Aegon Targaryen

**Aegon Targaryen**, also called **the Black Dragon** or **the Black Prince**, was the cousin of King Daeron I Targaryen and a pretender to the Iron Throne. He instigated the Blackwater Rebellion in 186AC, ultimately perishing at the war's end. Had he ascended the throne, he would have ruled as King Aegon IV Targaryen.

## History

### Early Life

Aegon was the eldest son of the King's Hand, Prince Viserys Targaryen, and his wife, Larra Rogare. He grew up during the rule of his uncle, King Aegon III. In 139 AC, his mother Larra returned to her native Lys, where she died in 145 AC. In 153 AC, Viserys had Aegon married to his sister, Princess Naerys, with Aegon III's blessing. Their marriage was an unhappy one. Naerys had a better relationship with her second brother, Prince Aemon, for he knew how to make her laugh and had something of the piety she had, while Aegon did not. When Aegon and Naerys were wed in the early months of 153 AC, Aemon quarrelled with Aegon at the wedding feast, and Naerys wept during the bedding. Aegon's first child with Naerys, Prince Daemon, was born in 156AC.

As a young prince, Aegon accompanied his cousin, King Daeron "the Young Dragon", in his Conquest of Dorne, as did Aegon's younger brother, Prince Aemon "the Dragonknight", who had joined the Kingsguard. After the submission of Sunspear, Aegon was tasked by King Daeron I to escort the highborn Dornish hostages to King's Landing. One of these hostages, Cassella Vaith, became one of Aegon's mistresses for a few years.

### The Black Dragon

Prince Aegon served as a rallying point for those who disagreed with his cousin's rule, possessing all the qualities Daeron's harshest criticizers found lacking in their king. Ever a proud and arrogant man, Aegon needed little cause to find reasons to dislike his cousin, disparaging his actions and decisions whenever and wherever possible.

Eventually Aegon's quarrel with Daeron would reach a head, and in 186AC Daeron attempted to name Aegon's eldest son and heir, Daemon, to the Kingsguard. Aegon refused, hurling obscenities at his cousin before the assembled court - and was thusly banished from the capital. He took up residence in Duskendale, remaining there for six months - before sending ravens to have the realm, calling for their support in his war.

### The Rebellion

*Main Article: The Blackwater Rebellion*

Also known as **Aegon's Revolt** and **the Lecher's Lark**, the Rebellion was a conflict from 186-187AC, spanning the entirety of the Seven Kingdoms. Aegon had won many friends across the realm in the years preceding his uprising, and many of those disenfranchised with Daeron's rule flocked to him. HIs eldest son, Daemon, was extremely popular with the smallfolk and nobility both; winning freeriders and men-at-arms for their cause from across the realm.

Aegon spent most of the war in Harrenhal; though he had been a great warrior in his youth, age and pride both halted him from testing his skill at arms on the field of battle. Instead he planned and plotted from within the mighty walls of the half-ruined behemoth of a castle, waiting for his allies to defeat their local foes and join their strength to his.

Unfortunately for the would-be king, his vices proved too powerful to resist. Ever the lech, he bedded Lord Lothston's wife while the man was away, then imprisoned him for treason when the Lord of Harrenhal struck him. The act cost him the loyalty of Lord Lothston's men and maester, who burned a letter from Daemon Targaryen, begging for aid in the west. Because of this, Aegon was unaware of his son's dire plight, only discovering it months later when at last he sallied forth from Harrenhal.

The sight was said to have blackened his mood, so much so that not even his usual mistresses and bedmates could calm him. With the Reynes and Crakehalls defeated in the west and the Baratheons defeated in the east - and, of course, the Starks having abandoned his cause - it seemed as if the Rebellion was crumbling all around him. Aegon, his son Viserys, and his whole host of knights and soldiers, marched south to join forces with the Tyrells and the Reach. From there they marched toward the capital - to be met by King Daeron and his army, who waited for them upon the bridge.

The Battle of Blackbridge was the deciding battle of the rebellion, and the ending of all Aegon's hopes. The loyalists took the bridge and smashed his army, House Tyrell bending the knee upon the field by dusk. The remnants of his forces fled north with their King and Viserys - though even the young prince would be slain, in a skirmish along the Rush only a few days later.

### Death

As the loyalist forces pursued him northward along the river, Aegon Targaryen was found strung up in a willow tree, garbed in simple clothing but lacking any other wounds. Most agree that the rebel king did not hang himself - instead his men turned on him, betraying their lord in a last ditch hope to save their own lives.

The true circumstances around Prince Aegon's death are not widely known, and the mystery of it is explored in a book by Maester Dafyn, published only in recent years. When Aegon's body was uncovered, Daeron immediately called for an end to all pursuit of the remaining rebel forces.

## Legacy

Due to his lecherous and undisciplined nature, it is almost certain that Aegon sired more bastards than are currently known to the realm at large. For a time, many who fought on either side of the war sought these out - for purposes both good and ill. Aegon's daughters were sent to King's Landing, there to remain in the court of King Daeron, while of his trueborn sons only Aelor survived, banished to the Wall for his support of his father's rebellion.

The war Aegon waged for his claim to the throne has left much of the Seven Kingdoms divided. To this day, nearly fourteen years later, it is largely considered dangerous to ask a man which side of the war he fought on, and which dragon he supported.

Aegon's crown and signet ring were both lost after the war, as well as his sword.