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 or to the polity born after Aegon's Conquest. The king often holds audiences and dispenses justice from atop it in the Red Keep's throne room, the Great Hall. The chair is cold and hard, with many jagged edges.

## Customs

In the king's absence, only his Hand may sit on the throne. Such privilege does not extend to royal regents. However, three exceptions exist: Queen Rhaenys Targaryen and Queen Visenya Targaryen, who were King Aegon I Targaryen's partners in power; and Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, who sat the throne for a short time, when she took King's Landing during the Dance of the Dragons.

## Appaerance

The Iron Throne is an asymmetric monstrosity of spikes and jagged edges and twisted metal. The throne was constructed by Aegon I Targaryen from the melted, twisted, beaten, and broken blades surrendered by his enemies, or wrenched from the hands of the dying. According to the songs, it took a thousand blades to make. George R. R. Martin has described the Iron Throne as "massive", "ugly", and "asymmetric". The throne is a symbol of conquest.

The Iron Throne is located on a high platform in the throne room within the Red Keep. It can be reached by climbing steep iron steps in the Great Hall, and the small council has a table at the base of the throne.

Because of the fanged steel behind, it is impossible to lean back on the iron seat of the Iron Throne. Aegon I intended for it to be uncomfortable, believing that "a king should never sit easy". The points of the twisted blades fan out like talons from arms of the throne. Even after three hundred years, some of the blades are still sharp enough to cut.

The Iron Throne is known for being dangerous to its occupants. King Viserys I Targaryen cut his left hand to the bone after stumbling, and Maester Gerardys had to remove two fingers to save his life. According to Septon Eustace, an armor-clad Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen was seen with cuts on her legs and left hand after sitting the throne for the first time, which led some to believe she had been rejected by it. King Aerys II Targaryen was cut so many times that he became known as "King Scab".

According to the stories, the Iron Throne is capable of killing a person, and has done so before. King Maegor I Targaryen, for instance, was found dead on the Iron Throne, his arms slashed open from wrist to elbow on jagged barbs, and with a blade through his neck, emerging beneath his chin. Although various culprits have been considered as having possibly murdered Maegor the Cruel, many still believe the king had been killed by the throne.

## History

Following his conquest of six of the Seven Kingdoms in Westeros, Aegon I Targaryen proclaimed himself their king, and was crowned by the High Septon at Oldtown. From the swords of his enemies, Aegon created the Iron Throne, and the dynasty he began would rule for nearly three hundred years. According to the songs, the throne was constructed with a thousand blades, heated by the dragonflame of Balerion, Aegon's dragon. According to history, however, the throne was forged by armorers.

The Iron Throne stood at Aegon's wooden castle, the Aegonfort, which was located at the place where he had first come to shore. The town that grew around it became King's Landing, the kingdom's new capital. Aegon reconciled the Iron Islands under his rule in 2 AC, and continued his wars in 4 AC with the First Dornish War, in an attempt to subdue the seventh of the Westerosi kingdoms.

The Iron Throne kept out of war following the conclusion of the First Dornish War in 13 AC. Other wars with Dorne would follow under Aegon's successors: the Second Dornish War in 37 AC at the start of Aenys I Targaryen's reign, the Third and Fourth Dornish War during the reign of Jaehaerys I Targaryen, and the Conquest of Dorne during the reign of Daeron I Targaryen.

During Aegon's reign, one of his queens Rhaenys and Visenya Targaryen would sit on the Iron Throne while Aegon and his other sister were away from the capital for one of his progresses. In 35 AC, Aegon had the Aegonfort where the Iron Throne stood torn down. As construction of the Red Keep began, the Iron Throne remained where it had stood.