Aegon II Targaryen

King Aegon II Targaryen is the sixth King of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men and Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. His rule is disputed by his older half-sister, Rhaenyra Targaryen. He is the firstborn son of King Viserys I Targaryen and his second wife, Queen Alicent Hightower, and a member of the Targaryen dynasty. He is the rider of the dragon Sunfyre.
==Biography==
===Background===
Aegon was born in 113 AC, roughly a year after his parents' marriage in King's Landing and the tenth year of his father's rule. He has an elder half-sister, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, the daughter of King Viserys's first wife, Queen Aemma Arryn, and three younger full siblings through his mother Alicent: Princess Helaena, Prince Aemond, and Prince Daeron Targaryen. 
Until his sudden ascension to the throne orchestrated by the Green Council, Aegon was seventh-in-line to succeed to the Iron Throne, after Rhaenyra and her five children and his half-nephews, Princes Jacaerys, Lucerys, and Joffrey Velaryon, and Princes Aegon Targaryen the Younger and Prince Viserys Targaryen.
===House of the Dragon: Season 1===
The realm celebrates Aegon's second nameday with a royal hunt in the Kingswood. During a gathering shortly before the hunt, Hobert Hightower pressures his brother Otto—who serves as the Hand of the King—to convince Viserys to name Aegon his heir. Hobert later openly hails the prince as "Aegon the Conqueror-Babe, Second of His Name."
During the outing, the Royal Huntsman tracks a white hart, considered a magical creature and a symbol of royalty, contributing to Viserys's doubts about previously naming Rhaenyra his heir in a very public ceremony. To the king's relief, however, the stag that they finally catch is not a white one.
When Otto proposes a marriage between Aegon and Rhaenyra, this at first amuses then angers the king, who is already exhausted with the constant politicking by his Small Council and the other lords present, including Jason Lannister who brazenly declares his assumption that Aegon will soon be named heir.
The day after the hunt, Otto pressures Alicent to discuss the succession with Viserys. She does not bring up the subject in her next conversation with him, however.
The following year, Rhaenyra and her uncle Daemon watch a mummer's farce about the succession performed on the Street of Silk in King's Landing. The majority of the spectators appear to favor Aegon as heir, echoing the lead mummer's question that Rhaenyra would be a feeble queen.
After being dismissed as Hand of the King, Otto bluntly tells Alicent that if Rhaenyra inherits the throne, war will follow and Alicent and her children will be put to the sword. He urges her to prepare Aegon to rule.
Ten years later, a now teenaged Aegon accompanies his brother Aemond and Rhaenyra's sons Jacaerys and Lucerys Velaryon to the Dragonpit, and watches as Jace is trained by the Dragonkeepers to command his young dragon Vermax. Aegon, Jace, and Luke tell Aemond, the only boy yet without a dragon, that they found one for him. The three boys then bring out a pig that they have decorated with wings and make fun of Aemond with squealing noises. Aegon is later scolded in private by his mother, who tells him that he must treat his brother respectfully in public, for one day he will be king. When Aegon claims that he has no plans to challenge Rhaenyra's succession, Alicent rebukes him, telling her son that he himself already is the challenge, and that Rhaenyra will have to kill him and his brother to secure her claim.
Aegon later trains in the courtyard of the Red Keep alongside Aemond, Jace, and Luke under Ser Criston Cole. Aegon demonstrates proficiency with a sword against a strawman, but he and Aemond are easily bested by Criston. Criston later has Aegon knock Jace to the ground and relentlessly attack him, but Ser Harwin Strong intervenes, grabbing Aegon and pushing him aside, angering the young prince.
Aegon is present alongside Viserys, Alicent, Helaena, Aemond, and the rest of the royal family for the funeral of his aunt, Laena Velaryon, at Driftmark. During the funeral reception after, Aegon and his brother watch their sister Helaena study a spider, and they argue over Aegon's betrothal to and dislike of their sister, with him stating Helaena is an idiot and that they have nothing in common. Aemond defends Helaena by reminding Aegon that she is their sister and his future queen. When Aegon suggests Aemond should marry Helaena if he is willing to defend her, Aemond says that if he were betrothed to Helaena, he would do his duty to keep their Valyrian blood pure. Aegon finishes the argument by quipping that he and Helaena do share at least an attraction to things with long legs, before grabbing more wine and leaving to flirt with a servant.
Aegon continues to get drunk on wine through the funeral reception into the evening. He is eventually found by his grandfather, Ser Otto Hightower, inebriated on a flight of steps near the reception area. Exasperated at his behavior, Otto roughly grabs Aegon, who in his drunken confusion believes him to be his brother. Otto then drags Aegon back to the reception area and sends him to bed, while his brother Aemond and the assembled court look on.
Later that evening, Aegon is present in the Hall of Nine with his mother and sister, as Aemond's eye injury is tended to by Maester Kelvyn, while Viserys angrily questions his Kingsguard how they allowed the fight between his son and his grandchildren and nieces to happen. Alicent then angrily confronts Aegon on where he was before slapping and reprimanding him for getting drunk while his brother was harmed. When calls on Aemond to tell him where he heard the rumors about Jace and Luke's parentage, Aemond reluctantly says Aegon told him, baffling Aegon. When Viserys questions Aegon on where he heard the rumors, Aegon's only defense to his father's questioning is that everyone knows based on Jace and Luke's non-Valyrian features.
The following day, Aegon departs with his family from Driftmark, riding on his dragon Sunfyre, alongside Helaena on Dreamfyre and Aemond on Vhagar as they return home to King's Landing.
At some point after this, Aegon and Helaena are wed to each other and have two children, Jaehaerys and Jaehaera.
Six years after Laena's funeral, Aegon rapes a household servant named Dyana as she is serving him wine. Furious, Alicent goes to see her son, who is lying in bed naked and heavily drunk. When Aegon says that he viewed it as "harmless fun" and that Dyana did not need to get upset, Alicent yells at him to stop with his womanizing as he is shaming their family. Aegon accuses his mother of wanting too much from him, and that despite how much pressure she and his father put on him, it will never be enough for them.
Later, Aegon and his family hear the petitions of Vaemond Velaryon and Rhaenyra, on behalf of Lucerys, over the succession to Driftmark. Aegon smiles when Viserys reaffirms Lucerys's right to Driftmark and is surprised when his uncle Daemon kills Vaemond for calling Rhaenyra's sons bastards.
Viserys gets the entire Targaryen family together for dinner that night. Fed up with Aegon, Alicent toasts Rhaenyra and says that she will be a fine queen. Aegon harasses Jace about his betrothal to their cousin Baela, joking that he can teach Jace about sex. When Aegon goes to flirt with Baela, Jace stands up but quickly calms himself and toasts his uncles. Helaena adds in, toasting Baela and Rhaena and indirectly taunting Aegon about their marriage. Aegon is further annoyed when Jace dances with Helaena. At the end of the feast, when a fight breaks out between Aemond and Jace, Aegon joins in by hitting Luke's head against the table before Alicent, Rhaenyra, and Daemon break the fight up.
On his deathbed, Viserys, thinking he is talking to Rhaenyra, tells Alicent that Aegon's prophetic dream is true and that she will be the one to save the realm. Believing that Viserys means their son, Alicent is reinvigorated in her goal to get Aegon on the throne.
What Alicent does not know, however, is that members of the Small Council, including her father, have been plotting to put Aegon on the throne for years despite Viserys's steadfast support of Rhaenyra. When their plans are complete, the king-to-be is nowhere to be found. Otto sends Arryk and Erryk Cargyll to find Aegon and bring the prince to him, while Alicent sends Criston Cole and Aemond to find him for the same purpose.
While in a fighting pit that enslaves young children, Arryk and Erryk find a child who they believe is one of Aegon's bastards. Eventually, they are approached by Jayne, a woman who claims to know where Aegon is, and they are taken to her employer Mysaria, also known as the White Worm. She reveals to Otto that she orchestrated the kidnapping of Aegon the previous night, and tells the Cargylls where to find him in exchange for the Crown cracking down on the child fighting pits.
They travel to the Grand Sept, where they find Aegon asleep underneath a shrine. When they go outside with the drunken prince to bring him to Otto, they are stopped by Criston and Aemond, who had picked up their trail. Aegon tries to escape, but Aemond tackles him. Aegon is shocked to learn from his brother that his mother and her allies have plotted to make him king, and expresses his wish to leave Westeros to stay out of everyone's political games. When Aemond puts him in a headlock, Aegon loudly pronounces that he is unfit to rule and he doesn't want the crown.
Regardless of his wishes, Aegon's coronation takes place the next day in the Dragonpit. On the way there, he questions his mother on whether Viserys's alleged wish for Aegon to succeed him is genuine, as he had refused to name Aegon his heir for twenty years, even over the blood of his relatives. Alicent presents him with Viserys's Valyrian steel dagger, but Aegon, after being told not to kill Rhaenyra as Otto wishes, asks if his mother truly loves him, to which she replies "you imbecile."
Aegon is anointed by Septon Eustace and crowned by Criston Cole with his ancestor Aegon the Conqueror's crown as King Aegon II, usurping Rhaenyra. He turns to see the crowd cheering for him. He draws Blackfyre, the ancestral sword of House Targaryen, and starts to celebrate his new, previously unwanted, kingship. But at that point, Princess Rhaenys Targaryen bursts through the floor astride her dragon Meleys, and Alicent steps in front of Aegon to protect him, but Rhaenys spares Aegon and his family and flees to Dragonstone to warn Rhaenyra.
==Personality==
Aegon is a heavy drinker known to harass the women of the Red Keep. He is lazy and indifferent to his duties. As a teenager, he refused to behave as a prince is expected to. He also resents his mother's efforts to control his behavior and feels that no matter what he does in his life, his mother will never be happy or proud of him.
==Quotes==
===Spoken by Aegon===
===Spoken about Aegon===
==Family==
===Paternal===
===Maternal===
==Behind the scenes==
On March 30, 2022, HBO announced that Tom Glynn-Carney had been cast in the role of Aegon Targaryen for House of the Dragon. His character description reads as follows:
:"First-born son of King Viserys."
==In the books==
In Fire & Blood, Aegon II Targaryen was the first child of Viserys I Targaryen and Alicent Hightower. He had an older half-sister, Rhaenyra, and three younger full-siblings: Helaena, Aemond, and Daeron. He was known to have a short temper and was slow to forgive perceived slights or failures.
Aegon, named after Aegon the Conqueror, was born in 106 AC in King's Landing. He resembled his father in appearance and was considered handsome, though his eyes had a sullen look and his mouth was pouty. Like his father he had a mustache, though his was wispy while Viserys's was bushy.
From the moment of Aegon's birth, tensions began to fester in court and realm, as King Viserys was determined that his eldest daughter Rhaenyra would succeed him. Prince Daemon, Aegon's uncle, was cool towards him and his brother Aemond, supposedly because their births had pushed him further down the line of succession, though he would later become Rhaenyra's staunchest supporter. Queen Alicent and her father Otto Hightower were the loudest voices in favor of Aegon being the king's heir. Otto pestered Viserys about the issue so much that the king stripped him of his office as Hand of the King and named Lyonel Strong in his stead. When Alicent proposed a marriage between Rhaenyra and Aegon, Viserys, knowing the motive behind the suggestion, had Rhaenyra married to Laenor Velaryon instead. The respective supporters of Aegon and Rhaenyra became known as the "queen's party" and the "party of the princess."
At Viserys and Alicent's fifth wedding anniversary, the queen's party and party of the princess became known as the greens and the blacks for the dresses that Alicent and Rhaenyra wore to the opening feast.
Alicent's sons and Rhaenyra's sons were forced to spend time together and bond, but they did not get along well due to the sentiment that Jacaerys, Lucerys, and Joffrey had stolen their birthright, and the rumors that the three boys were bastards fathered by Harwin Strong.
Aegon claimed the dragon Sunfyre by the age of 13, and at some point took a three-headed dragon gold on black as his personal sigil in his dragon's honor. In 120 AC, Rhaenyra and Daemon had a son they named Aegon, which was perceived as a slight against the elder Prince Aegon intended to lessen the significance of his name and imply that he was less worthy of the Conqueror's name.
By the age of 15 he was a heavy drinker and a glutton, lazy and somewhat sulky. He was known to pinch and fondle any serving girl who strayed within his reach. At the same age he was married to his younger sister Helaena, who gave birth to the twins Jaehaerys and Jaehaera a year later. Aegon also fathered numerous bastards during his marriage.
At a feast on the first day of 127 AC, Aegon took offense at Jacaerys asking Helaena for a dance. They argued and might have fought if the Kingsguard had not intervened. The same year Aegon and Helaena had another son named Maelor. 
A week after the death of King Viserys, who had secretly been left to rot in his room during that time while the greens prepared for Aegon's coronation, Aegon was summoned to the small council. However, he could not be found in his chambers. According to Munkun's True Telling, the prince was "at his revels." According to the testimony of the fool Mushroom, he was found drunk and naked in a Flea Bottom rat pit where feral children fought for his amusement while he was being pleasured by a young girl. Septon Eustace, known to portray Aegon in a more favorable light, claimed that Aegon was found abed with a well-kept paramour, a wealthy trader's daughter. He initially refused the crown, but Criston Cole convinced him that he and his brothers would be executed if Rhaenyra should take the throne. According to Eustace this is the only reason Aegon agreed to be crowned.
Weary of the greens' secrecy, Aegon demanded to be crowned immediately. He was anointed with the holy oils by Septon Eustace and crowned with Aegon the Conqueror's crown by Ser Criston Cole in the Dragonpit on the tenth day of the third moon of 129 AC.
Upon hearing of Rhaenyra's rival coronation at Dragonstone, Aegon demanded her head as well as Prince Daemon's, though he was persuaded by Grand Maester Orwyle to sue for peace instead. Rhaenyra refused the greens' terms, and the war of succession that followed would later become known as the Dance of the Dragons.
==Appearances==
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==References==
===Notes===
==External links==
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Category:Crownlanders
Category:Dragonriders
Category:Greens
Category:Individuals appearing in House of the Dragon
Category:Individuals from Game of Thrones: Conquest & Rebellion: An Animated History of the Seven Kingdoms
Category:Individuals from Histories & Lore
Category:Individuals from The Dance of Dragons
Category:Individuals mentioned in Game of Thrones
Category:Kings of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men
Aegon II Targaryen
Category:Princes
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