Succession of the Iron Throne

The **Iron Throne** is the seat of the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and is often used as a metonymic device to refer to the king's authority. The Iron Throne was constructed by Aegon I Targaryen, first king of the Seven Kingdoms. Aegon the Conqueror had the throne made from the swords surrendered by his enemies. It is supposed to have taken a thousand blades to make, heated in the breath of Balerion the Black Dread. The hammering took fifty-nine days.

The Iron Throne is an asymmetric monstrosity of spikes and jagged edges and twisted metal. It is uncomfortable, and the back is fanged with steel which makes leaning back impossible. Aegon I had it made this way deliberately, saying that a king should never sit easy. Mad King Maelys I Blackfyre was always cutting himself upon it, and it is said that the throne itself has caused the deaths of several people.

Since the construction of the Red Keep in King's Landing, the Iron Throne has been located on a high platform in the throne room within the castle. Usually, the members of the Kingsguard stand guard below. When the king is presiding, only he, his family, and his council may sit; all others must stand or kneel. During the rule of the Targaryens, the throne room was decorated with the skulls of their dragons. After Daemon I Blackfyre took the throne for House Blackfyre, he elected to keep the skulls decorating the throne room to display the power of the dragon; no matter what colour.

Succession of the Iron Throne since the first Lord of the Seven Kingdoms sat upon it is as follows.

## Succession

### *Aegon I Targaryen (1 AC to 37 AC)*

**Aegon I Targaryen**, also known as **Aegon the Conqueror** and **Aegon the Dragon**, was the first Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and king on the Iron Throne, having conquered six of the Seven Kingdoms during the Conquest. He was the founder of the ruling Targaryen dynasty of Westeros.

### *Aenys I Targaryen (37 AC to 42 AC)*

**Aenys I Targaryen** was the second Targaryen king to sit the Iron Throne. He was the son of King Aegon I Targaryen by his sister-wife Queen Rhaenys Targaryen. His younger half-brother was Maegor I Targaryen.

### *Maegor I Targaryen (42 AC to 48 AC)*

**Maegor I Targaryen**, also known as **Maegor the Cruel**, was the third Targaryen king to sit the Iron Throne. He was the son of King Aegon I Targaryen and elder his sister-wife, Queen Visenya Targaryen.

The polygamous Maegor had six wives: Ceryse Hightower, Alys Harroway, Tyanna of the Tower, Elinor Costayne, Jeyne Westerling, and his niece Rhaena Targaryen, the last three of whom are known as the Black Brides.

### *Jaehaerys I Targaryen (48 AC to 103 AC)*

King **Jaehaerys I Targaryen**, also known as **the Conciliator**, **the Wise** or **the Old King**, was the fourth Targaryen king to sit the Iron Throne. He ascended the throne in 48 AC following the death of his uncle, King Maegor I Targaryen. Jaehaerys was the longest reigning Targaryen monarch, sitting on the throne for fifty-five years. He was a dragonrider, riding Vermithor, the largest dragon after Balerion and Vhagar.

### *Viserys I Targaryen (103 AC to 129 AC)*

**Viserys I Targaryen** was the fifth Targaryen Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, ruling from 103 AC to 129 AC. He succeeded his grandfather, the Old King Jaehaerys I. Viserys continued the prosperous peace and legacy of his grandsire, but the seeds for the civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons that would much later engulf the realm were inadvertently sown in his reign.

Viserys was a dragonrider who rode Balerion until the dragon died of old age during the reign of Jaehaerys. Viserys never bonded with another dragon after Balerion's death.

### *Aegon II Targaryen (129 AC to 131 AC)*

**Aegon II Targaryen** was the sixth Targaryen king to sit the Iron Throne, succeeding his father, Viserys I Targaryen, as Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. His ascent was disputed by his older half-sister, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, who had been their father's designated heir. Aegon and Rhaenyra fought for the throne in the civil war the singers called the Dance of the Dragons, in which both siblings perished.

Aegon was married to his full sister, Princess Helaena Targaryen. His dragon was Sunfyre the Golden and for his personal sigil he took a golden dragon instead of a red Targaryen one, indicating his mount. During the Dance of the Dragons, his faction used his personal heraldry as their battle-flag.

### *Aegon III Targaryen (131 AC to 157 AC)*

**Aegon III Targaryen**, also known as **Aegon the Younger**, and later **Aegon the Dragonbane**, was the seventh king of the Targaryen line to sit the Iron Throne. He succeeded his uncle, Aegon II Targaryen, at the conclusion of the Dance of the Dragons, which saw the victorious supporters of his late mother Rhaenyra Targaryen install him on the throne. When he was a child, his dragon was Stormcloud. Aegon kept the kingdom united following the divisions of the civil war with the aid of his brother, Prince Viserys, whom he named Hand of the King when he came of age.

### *Daeron I Targaryen (157 AC to 161 AC)*

**Daeron I Targaryen**, known as the **Young Dragon**, was the eldest son of Aegon III and the eighth Targaryen king to sit the Iron Throne from 157-161 AC. He ascended to the throne at the age of fourteen and is famous for conquering Dorne, which he wrote about in his *Conquest of Dorne*.

### *Baelor I Targaryen (161 AC to 171 AC)*

**Baelor I Targaryen**, known as **the Beloved** and **the Blessed**, was the ninth Targaryen king to reign on the Iron Throne as Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. Known for his piety, Baelor was a septon as well as a king. He was the second son of King Aegon III Targaryen and Queen Daenaera Velaryon, and ruled after the death of his older brother, King Daeron I Targaryen.

None of the Targaryen kings are as beloved as Baelor. He loved the smallfolk and the gods in equal parts, yet imprisoned his own sisters. Some remember him as a great and holy man and praise him for his contributions to the Faith of the Seven, for forging a peace with Dorne, his mercy and his many acts of charity. Others are less impressed by him, believing him to be an overly zealous weak fool. The Great Sept of Baelor in King's Landing features a statue of him.

### *Viserys II Targaryen (171 AC to 172 AC)*

**Viserys II Targaryen** was the tenth king from House Targaryen to sit the Iron Throne as Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. He was the son of Rhaenyra Targaryen and Daemon Targaryen, the brother and Hand of King Aegon III Targaryen, and the father of King Aegon IV Targaryen, Queen Naerys Targaryen, and Prince Aemon "the Dragonknight".

### *Aegon IV Targaryen (172 AC to 184 AC)*

King **Aegon IV Targaryen**, known as **Aegon the Unworthy**, was the eleventh Targaryen to sit the Iron Throne, and is considered to be one of the worst Targaryen kings. He sired numerous bastards, legitimizing them on his deathbed, an act that led to the Blackfyre Rebellion.

### *Daeron II Targaryen (184 AC to 197 AC)*

**Daeron II Targaryen**, known as **Daeron the Good**, was the twelfth Lord of the Seven Kingdoms from House Targaryen. Daeron brought Dorne peacefully into the realm, uniting all the lands of Westeros south of the wall. His legitimized bastard half-brother, Daemon Blackfyre, challenged his rule and the result was a terrible civil war, the Blackfyre Rebellion. Daeron was beheaded by Aegor Bittersteel during the Sack of King's Landing.

### *Daemon I Blackfyre (197 AC to 210 AC)*

**Daemon I Blackfyre** was the first of the Blackfyre kings, and the thirteenth Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. Daemon was an immensely popular ruler during his reign, ruling justly and fairly, and famed for bringing the Greyjoys to heel during the Quelling of the Kraken. He died during the Great Spring Sickness from the plague in 210 AC.

### *Daemon II Blackfyre (210 AC to 224 AC)*

**Daemon II Blackfyre**, known as ‘**Daemon** **the Dreamer**’ to noble and smallfolk alike, was the second of the Blackfyre kings, and the fourteenth Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. He served for a time as Hand of the King, and later the King himself during the Great Spring Sickness and had plenty of foresight to ensure the health of King’s Landing, but could not save the rest of the realm.

During his reign, Mors Martell and the rest of House Martell made its presence known in Dorne, where the land was untouched by plague. His Dragon Dreams served to make the realm prosper, and both his and his father’s reigns were relatively peaceful thanks to his father’s reputation and his excellent intuition.

### *Haegon I Blackfyre (224 AC to 225 AC)*

**Haegon I Blackfyre** was the third of the Blackfyre kings, and fifteenth Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. Haegon ascended after his father's death, and served as king during the Bloodraven Rebellion. An incredibly brilliant commander and dearly beloved by his men, he was thought to be the spitting image of his grandfather and a sign that gods sometimes did truly walk among men. He was also famed for creating the house words for House Blackfyre when he was reported to have said during negotiations:

“You will find no better friend, and no fiercer foe.”

He was killed on accident by his own men when riding through thick fog.

### *Aerys I Blackfyre (225 AC)*

**Aerys I Blackfyre** was the fourth of the Blackfyre kings, and the sixteenth Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. Aerys' rule was no longer than a handful of months. Although he survived the Bloodraven Rebellion, he developed a stitch in his side a few short weeks after its conclusion, collapsing unresponsive soon after.

### *A Period of No Ruler (225 AC to 227 AC)*

During **The War of the Wicked**, for the first time since the creation of the Kingdom, no King sat the Iron Throne. It is whispered that Aegor Bittersteel ruled as king in all but title, but during the two-year-long war, no true king sat the Throne.

### *Daena Blackfyre (227 AC to 247 AC)*

**Daena Blackfyre**, known as '**The Realm’s Delight**' and '**the Warrior Queen**', was the fifth of the Blackfyre rulers and seventeenth Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. She reigned as the realms first Queen upon the Iron Throne for twenty years. Desired by the whole realm, Daena ruled just as good as any man, and changed the laws of succession to agnatic-cognatic primogeniture.

In contrast to her popularity, many of the other Blackfyres at the time, including her own children, were perceived as spoiled brats, unfit to sit the Iron Throne. The Realm's Delight perished during the The War of Unification.

### *Maelys I Blackfyre (247 AC to 270 AC)*

**Maelys I Blackfyre**, known as '**the Mad**' and '**Mad King Maelys**', was the sixth of the Blackfyre rulers and eighteenth Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. Oldest of Daena Blackfyre’s children, Maelys was a terrible man in his own right. A trickster and a gambler, his cruel and vindictive nature led to attempts to pit his vassals against each other in an effort to make sure their power never rivaled his.

Slain by the bastard Rhaegar Rivers during Durran's Defiance.

### *Daemon III Blackfyre (270 AC to Present)*

**Daemon III Blackfyre** is the seventh of the Blackfyre rulers, and nineteenth Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. Only six-and-ten years of age, Daemon has been King of the Iron Throne for the past decade, if only in name. The new Lord Baratheon has been his Hand and Regent, ruling the Seven Kingdoms. Daemon has always felt like there was a chip on his shoulder, his father was a madman, and greater heroes than he have served as champions of the realm for the past ten years.

Now, his coronation is set to commence and the realm eagerly awaits to see what sort of ruler he will become, although he undoubtedly has a number of challenges ahead of him.