Aenar Targaryen (son of Baelor)

## Lord of Dragonstone

Lord **Aenar Targaryen**, known as Aenar the Exile, was the eldest child and only son of Lord Baelor Targaryen and Lady Daenys Targaryen. He had seven wives and fourteen children by them.

## History

### Early life

Aenar was born in Valyria in 155 BC to Lord Baelor Targaryen and Lady Daenys Targaryen. He had one younger sister, Daera. Due to Daenys's death while giving birth to Daera, Aenar was raised by his father. As per Valyrian tradition, Aenar and Daera grew up expecting to be wed to each other and were betrothed in 145 BC. However, in 141 BC, after Daera died of a fever, Baelor began searching for a suitable wife for Aenar.

In 140 BC, Aenar was betrothed to his eight-year-old cousin, Lady Daenaera Targaryen. The two were wed in 135 BC in a small ceremony in Valyria. Aenar took two more wives, Ladies Jaenera Baeltaris and Shaena Belaerys, in 133 BC.

In 132 BC, Daenaera gave birth to Aenar's first child, a son named Gaemon. Later that same year, Shaena gave birth to her first child by Aenar, a son named Aerys. Daenaera gave birth to another child, Daenys, in 129 BC. Daenaera's third pregnancy ended in tragedy, as the child was stuck in the birthing canal. Though healers were able to remove the child, lack of oxygen resulted in the child's death. Blood loss resulted in Daenaera's death as well.

Following Baelor's death in 131 BC, Aenar became the head of the Targaryen family and took over his father's seat in the Council of Dragonlords.

The polygamous Aenar took three more brides in late 123 BC; sisters Maelyra and Saelyra Anarys, aged nineteen and eighteen respectively, and Vysera Belaerys, aged thirteen. He also took his niece Visarra Targaryen as a wife in 109 BC.

### The Doom

In 114 BC, twelve years before the Doom of Valyria, Aenar's eldest daughter, Daenys the Dreamer, foretold the destruction of Valyria. In response to this, Aenar sold his holdings in the Valyrian Freehold and the Lands of the Long Summer and moved with his family, wealth, slaves, and dragons to Dragonstone, a bleak island citadel beneath the Dragonmont, a smoking mountain in the narrow sea.

The Targaryens were far from the most powerful of the dragonlords, and their rivals in Valyria saw their flight as an act of cowardice. However, because Aenar had moved his family away from Valyria, the Targaryens were the only dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria in 102 BC and the following Century of Blood.

In order to keep his niece, Visarra Targaryen, from marrying the Prince of Pentos, Jaerys Orlyris, and giving him access to dragons, Aenar took his niece to wife in 109 BC.

Aenar ruled as Lord of Dragonstone until his death, after which his son Gaemon inherited the rule.

### Abundance of heirs

Aside from Gaemon and Aerys born in 132 BC, and Daenys born in 129 BC, eleven more children were born to Aenar by his wives. In 129 BC, Shaena gave birth to another son, Haegon. A third son by Shaena followed in 122 BC, he was named Vaegon. Saelyra gave birth to her first child and daughter, Maegelle, in 119 BC. That same year, Vysera gave birth to her first child and son, Maegor. Saelyra gave birth to her second child and only son, Aelor, in 112 BC. Aelor unfortunately died a moon before his second nameday. In 111 BC, Vysera gave birth to her last child and second son, Aemon. Saelyra gave birth to her second daughter, Eraena, in 109 BC. Aenar's youngest wife, Visarra, gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Aenara, in 105 BC. Visarra also gave birth to a son named Visenys in 102 BC. Although Aenar's wife Maelyra was believed to be barren, she gave birth to Aenar's last son, Maelys, on the second day of 101 BC. Visarra bore Aenar's last child, a daughter named Saera, in 98 BC, only three moons after Aenar's death.

### Death

In 102 BC, following the Doom of Valyria, the death of Aenar's estranged children and grandchildren took a toll on Aenar's health for the worst. He died during the late days of 99 BC. He was succeeded as Lord of Dragonstone by his only son by his first marriage, Gaemon.

## Legacy

Aenar's move from Valyria to Dragonstone saved House Targaryen from extinction, making it the only dragonlord family to survive. His family stayed in Westeros many generations afterwards.

Aenar's descendants Aegon I Targaryen, Visenya Targaryen and Rhaenys Targaryen conquered the Seven Kingdoms, making House Targaryen a royal house. Subsequently, House Targaryen was no longer Lord of Dragonstone, but King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men.

## Quotes by Aenar

> I do regret abandoning my children in Valyria, I foresaw their deaths and still I did nothing. Now their ghosts haunt me. They call to me, they want me dead.
>
> —Aenar to Vysera Belaerys during his last days

## Quotes about Aenar

> Lord Aenar saved half of his family by killing the other half.
>
> —Ser Eldon Woodgard

## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 *The House of the Dragon*, Lord Aenar Targaryen.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 *The Last Scrolls of Ancient Valyria*, Dragonlords: House Targaryen.