AU: The Age of Queens, How It Could End
The end of the Targaryen and Baratheon civil wars, and in turn their bloodlines, was defined in the era now known as “The Age of Queens”.
Queen Daenerys Targaryen, the restorer, served as the first of this Age’s Queen. Known in her time as the Mother of Dragons and the Breaker of Chains, history remember the last true born Targaryen as “the Bloody Queen” for the immense death toll under her rule. Historian attribute the unprecedented death toll of small folk and nobles alike to a disastrous combination of dragon fire, her immense army, and unknown diseases carried across the Narrow Sea.
Queen Myrcella Baratheon, the bastard, was crowned with the support of House Martell upon the defeat of the Targaryen queen and her dragons. Married to Prince Trystane of Dorne before her coronation, the former Princess’ reign was short lived. Marred by rumors of bastardy and facing the threat of a legitimate Baratheon heir, Myrcella was abandoned by her supporters and executed in the name of Queen Shireen Baratheon, having only enjoyed nine days on the Iron Throne.
Queen Shireen Baratheon, the unlikely, is remembered as the most successful of this Age’s Queens, leading the recovery of the Seven Kingdoms after the bloody War of Five Kings and the subsequent civil wars of succession. A popular Queen, Shireen was known in her time as “the Virgin Queen” for her refusal to marry and her commitment to the Kingdom, her true love and devotion. Historians remember her best as the “ender of bloodlines,” a controversial title to be sure depending on their reasoning but the fact remains that with her death, Westeros lost the last true born heir with ties to the Baratheon and Targaryen bloodlines.
In the end, the best remembered Queen of the Age was not a Queen of the Seven Kingdoms but that of its northern neighbor, the Stark Queen. Queen Sansa Stark, the wolf queen, ruled as a contemporary to Queen Shireen; having negotiated their independence upon the restoration of Baratheon rule in the South. Historians attribute their decades long friendship as the reason for Queen Shireen’s decision to name the Stark Queen’s second born son, Prince Brandon Stark, as her heir. A highly debated decision today, it proved to be an well respected decision at its time; aided by the popularity of the Stark Queen in the South and the rumors of the man who fathered her children. No official record remains of the North’s first prince consort but well substantiated rumors at the time named him a bastard made prince, a hero of the Long Night, of Baratheon or Targaryen blood.
The Westeros “Age of Queens” came to an end with the death of Queen Shireen Baratheon in the South. A decade later, the death of Queen Sansa Stark in the North, marked the official beginning of “The Stark Age,” aptly named for the Stark Kings that ruled the two Westeros kingdoms: King Brandon Stark, First of His Name, Protector of the Seven Kingdoms and King Robb Stark, Second of His Name, King of the North.