❖ THE DYING OF THE DRAGONS: THE BLACKS AND THE GREENS &
A SON FOR A SON
(From Fire & Blood, Volume I)
The Dance of the Dragons was a devastating civil war from 129-131 AC that split the Seven Kingdoms and House Targaryen in two. It was characterized less by traditional armies and more by slaughter on the water, in the air, and in the shadows. It was a war of lies, knives, and poison that vastly reduced the number of living dragons and forever crippled the dynasty. This is the breakdown of how Viserys I’s death triggered a frantic grab for power, diplomatic scrambles across Westeros, and a ruthless descent into a bitter blood feud.
I. The Green Council and the Stolen Crown
King Viserys I died in his sleep in 129 AC. Queen Alicent, informed by a serving man, immediately sealed the room to keep the death a secret.
The Green Council: Otto Hightower convened the small council in the Queen's apartments. Alicent insisted the throne must go to the king's firstborn son, Aegon.
The First Casualty: Lord Beesbury was the sole dissenting voice, rejecting the council's plot to steal the crown. His subsequent death—variously attributed to perishing from chill in the dungeons, his throat being slit by Criston Cole, or being thrown from a window onto iron spikes—marked the war's first casualty.
Securing Power: While Viserys's body rotted and rumors spread, the Greens divided the crown's gold, imprisoned those who wouldn't bend the knee, and prepared for Aegon's coronation.
The Coronation: Aegon II was crowned at the Dragonpit with the Iron and Ruby Crown by Criston Cole. However, Kingsguard Steffon Darklyn defected, stealing Viserys's crown and bringing it to Dragonstone.
II. The Black Council and the Queen's Fury
Tidings of Aegon's coronation drove Rhaenyra into a black fury and a traumatic three-day labor on Dragonstone.
A Mother's Grief: Rhaenyra delivered a malformed, stillborn daughter named Visenya, claiming the Greens had murdered her.
The Black Council: Presiding over her loyalists, Rhaenyra formed a council with her consort Daemon, her sons, and Lord Corlys Velaryon.
The Dragon Advantage: Princess Rhaenys noted their primary advantage: the Blacks had more dragons. They boasted formidable beasts like Syrax, Caraxes, and Meleys, alongside six unclaimed dragons residing on Dragonstone.
Coronation & Diplomacy: Daemon crowned Queen Rhaenyra I with Viserys's stolen crown, declaring Alicent and her conspirators traitors. Grand Maester Orwyle arrived with generous peace terms from Aegon II, but Rhaenyra rejected them in stony silence, stripping Orwyle of his chain and declaring she would have her throne or her brother's head.
III. Ravens and Riders
To secure a foothold and win the Great Houses, the Blacks mobilized their forces and envoys.
The Fall of Harrenhal: Daemon flew to Harrenhal, securing a bloodless victory and claiming the wealth and hostages of House Strong. This allowed hundreds of Riverlords to rally for Rhaenyra.
The Vale & White Harbor: Jacaerys Velaryon flew north, winning the support of Jeyne Arryn in the Eyrie and Desmond Manderly at White Harbor.
The Pact of Ice and Fire: At Winterfell, Jace negotiated with the 21-year-old Lord Cregan Stark. They sealed their alliance by promising Jace's future firstborn daughter to Cregan's infant son, Rickon.
IV. First Blood at Storm's End
Lucerys Velaryon was sent on a shorter flight to Storm's End to treat with Lord Borros Baratheon, only to find Aemond Targaryen had arrived before him to secure a marriage pact.
The Confrontation: Aemond demanded Lucerys put out his own eye as retribution for their childhood fight. Lord Borros forbade bloodshed beneath his roof and had Lucerys escorted to safety.
The Storm's Wrath: Aemond pursued Lucerys outside into a raging storm. Vhagar pursued the struggling Arrax, killing both the young dragon and Prince Lucerys.
The Fallout: Aemond returned to King's Landing to a great feast from Aegon. On Dragonstone, Rhaenyra collapsed from grief, and Daemon promised vengeance.
V. A Son for a Son
Daemon, utilizing his underworld connections and an intermediary named Mysaria, hatched an awful plot of vengeance.
The Assassins: Mysaria hired a disgraced Gold Cloak (Blood) and a Red Keep ratcatcher (Cheese).
The Intrusion: The pair used secret passages to enter Alicent's chambers, bound the dowager queen, and waited for Queen Helaena and her children.
The Impossible Choice: Declaring themselves debt collectors seeking "a son for a son," they forced Helaena to choose which of her boys would die.
The Murder: Though Helaena pleaded to be killed instead, she ultimately chose her youngest, Maelor. Ignoring her choice, Blood beheaded her eldest son and heir, Jaehaerys.
The Aftermath: The trauma broke Helaena's mind. She refused to eat, bathe, or look at Maelor, slipping further into madness while King Aegon raged and drank, severing any remaining hope for peace.
King Jaehaerys I brought unprecedented peace and sweeping reforms to the realm, presiding over an era where the population doubled, trade increased tenfold, and King's Landing grew four times its size. Yet the Targaryen dynasty's golden age was permanently scarred by the unspeakable, visceral horrors of Old Valyria. From Aerea's agonizing death to the sprawling politics of the North, the young monarchs must navigate profound grief alongside their monumental reign.
I. The Disappearance & The Sunchaser
Rhaena’s Desperate Search: Following Aerea's disappearance, a grief-stricken Rhaena scoured Oldtown, Highgarden, Casterly Rock, and Fair Isle before withdrawing to wild, lonely places, blaming herself for her daughter's flight.
The Sunchaser's Voyage: Under the alias Alys Westhill, Elissa Farman used the gold from three stolen dragon eggs to build a deep-water ship in Braavos. Seeking a shortcut to lands like Leng or Asshai or new lands, she hired a crew—including Donnel Hightower's own grandsons—and sailed west with three ships (Sunchaser, Autumn Moon, and Lady Meredith).
The Braavosi Forgiveness: Rather than threatening war with dragons over the stolen eggs, Jaehaerys sent his new Hand, Septon Barth, to Braavos. Barth brilliantly negotiated the forgiveness of the Crown's massive debt in exchange for allowing the Iron Bank to keep the three "stones."
II. The Horrors of Old Valyria
A Grisly Return: After a long absence, Princess Aerea returned to the Red Keep atop a heavily scarred Balerion. The Black Dread bore a massive, nine-foot jagged rent in his side that dripped hot, smoking blood—proving whatever they encountered was capable of tearing a dragon.
The Valyrian Parasites: Aerea herself was emaciated, nearly naked, and burning with an unnatural internal heat. Septon Barth’s secretly sealed account reveals she was infested with heat-seeking chimeras—worms with faces and snakes with hands—contracted in the accursed ruins of Valyria.
A Horrifying End: Cooking from the inside out, Aerea perished in agony after Grand Maester Bennifer plunged her into an ice bath, causing the fiery parasites to burst from her flesh and die in the cold. Horrified, Jaehaerys issued a royal edict forbidding travel to Valyria under pain of death.
The Unnatural History: Barth documented the ordeal in his restricted text, Dragons, Wyrms, and Wyverns: Their Unnatural History, which the Citadel condemned and Baelor the Blessed later ordered destroyed. Rhaena, finding no comfort at Dragonstone, scattered her daughter's ashes and retired to Harrenhal's Widow's Tower until her death.
III. The Consolidation of Power
The Unified Law: Jaehaerys, alongside Septon Barth and his "smaller council," began a massive, decades-long project to unify the disparate, dictatorial laws of the individual Seven Kingdoms into a single royal doctrine.
City Improvements: Recognizing King's Landing was filthy compared to Oldtown, Barth proposed sinking expensive wells for clean water—a massive cost approved only after Alysanne dared Jaehaerys and Master of Coin Rego Drazhaz to drink a tankard of the city's raw river water.
The Dragonkeepers & The Melee: Recognizing the terrifying threat dragons pose if unchecked, Jaehaerys commissioned the cavernous Dragonpit and established the "Dragonkeepers." A brutal melee of 77 knights was held in the pit, ending with Ser Lucamore Strong winning a White Cloak.
The Spring Prince: Queen Alysanne delivered two healthy sons: Aemon and Baelon (the "Spring Prince," born to the arrival of a white raven). Jaehaerys named Aemon as his official heir, deliberately bypassing his eldest daughter, Daenerys.
IV. The Northern Tour & The Wall
The Stark Reception: Lord Aleric Stark of Winterfell, grieving his Mormont wife and brother, initially gave a frosty reception to the Targaryen monarchs. However, he slowly warmed to Alysanne's diplomatic charm, sharp humor, and matchmaking efforts—including hosting a tourney where a wildling mystery knight sparred with Jonquil Dark.
The Women's Courts: Continuing her tradition, Queen Alysanne held court directly with 200 women and girls in White Harbor, and later in Winterfell, listening to the plight of the smallfolk and establishing deep connections across the North.
Silverwing's Refusal: Alysanne flew to the Wall, though she was deeply troubled when Silverwing mysteriously refused to cross it, turning back three times.
The New Gift: Disturbed by the grotesquely huge and ruined Nightfort, Alysanne pledged her own jewels to construct a new castle, Deeplake. She then convinced a reluctant Lord Stark to expand the Night's Watch territory by doubling their lands with the "New Gift."
V. The Abolition of the First Night
The Mole's Town Tragedy: While holding court in Mole's Town, Alysanne heard harrowing accounts from smallfolk women who were traumatized, abused, and robbed of their lives under the brutal "Right of the First Night" tradition.
The Queen's Law: Deeply disturbed, Alysanne brought the issue to the small council. Despite initial hesitation from the lords regarding ancient dawn-age traditions, she successfully championed the complete abolition of the First Night, marking a monumental legal victory for the women of Westeros.
A Golden Autumn: By 58 AC, the realm celebrated the tenth anniversary of Jaehaerys's coronation with a massive tourney. With Lord Rogar and a newly reconciled family in attendance, Ser Ryam Redwyne crowned "Good Queen Alysanne" the Queen of Love and Beauty, capping off a golden autumn—though the shadow of winter loomed.
❖ THE CONCILIATOR : PRINCE INTO KING & THE YEAR OF THE THREE BRIDES
(From Fire & Blood, Volume I)
The Iron Throne was forged in fire, but it was secured through highly calculated mercy and ruthless political maneuvering. Following the brutal collapse of Maegor the Cruel's reign, a fourteen-year-old boy inherited a fractured realm on the brink of holy war. This is the architectural breakdown of how Jaehaerys I—alongside his mother and Hand—systematically neutralized the Faith, dismantled the remaining loyalists, and engineered the political scaffolding of a fifty-five-year dynasty, culminating in the fateful year of the Three Brides.
I. The Succession Crisis & The Boy King
The Fractured Realm: Jaehaerys ascended the Iron Throne in 48 AC at just 14 years old, inheriting an impoverished, war-torn kingdom and lacking any rulership experience.
The Question of Aerea: By strict rights, Aegon the Uncrowned's daughter, Aerea, was the heir. However, her youth, timid nature, and sex weighed against her.
The Firstborn's Refusal: Rhaena, the firstborn of Aenys and Alyssa, was also passed over. Beyond the prejudice against a ruling queen (summarized by Lord Rogar’s declaration that "this is not Dorne"), Rhaena despised the court and wished only to return to Fair Isle.
The Regency: Being shy of manhood, Jaehaerys was guided by Lord Rogar Baratheon as Hand of the King and his mother, Alyssa Velaryon, as Queen Regent.
II. The Fate of Maegor’s Loyalists
The Dungeons of the Red Keep: Upon arriving in King's Landing, hundreds of Maegor’s supporters were seized. Queen Regent Alyssa urged for mass executions.
The Calculated Clemency: Rogar Baratheon successfully argued that executing all captives would leave the crown without hostages against remaining loyalists. Jaehaerys utilized the Iron Throne to offer pardons to those who confessed treason, exchanging their lives for lands or gold.
The Kingsguard Trials: Of the five surviving members of Maegor's Kingsguard, Jaehaerys offered the Wall. Four accepted, but Ser Harrold Langwood demanded a trial by combat. He was slain by the young stormlander Gyles Morrigen, who was immediately elevated to Lord Commander.
III. The Uprising of the Faith
The Northern Threat: Ser Joffrey Doggett, backed by the pious Lady Lucinda of Riverrun, declared himself Grand Captain of the Warrior's Sons north of the Golden Tooth.
The Siege of Oldtown: Septon Moon, a thunderous, hypocritical lecher with immense influence, camped beneath Oldtown with 5,000 Poor Fellows, denouncing House Targaryen daily.
The Assassination: Before Jaehaerys or Rogar had to shed pious blood, Septon Moon was assassinated. A mysterious woman entered his tent, suspected of slitting his throat, and escaped into the night. The poisoned wine she brought killed his remaining guards, causing the crusade to instantly fracture and dissolve into rival factions.
IV. Coronation and The Conciliator
The Anointing: With Oldtown secure and the rebellion fading, the High Septon anointed Jaehaerys and placed Aenys’s crown upon his head.
The Masterstroke of the White Cloak: In a diplomatic maneuver, Jaehaerys met safely with Joffrey Doggett. While refusing to reinstate the Swords and Stars, he offered Doggett a place in his Kingsguard, neutralizing the most capable military threat of the Faith.
The Wall as Penance: Upon his triumphant return to King's Landing, Jaehaerys offered the remaining Poor Fellows clemency if they took the black. Within a month of his coronation, the Crown and the Faith were reconciled.
THE YEAR OF THE THREE BRIDES
V. The First Bride: The Farman Union
The Island Wedding: Two weeks into 49 AC, twenty-six-year-old Rhaena Targaryen married seventeen-year-old Androw Farman, the comely but unremarkable second son of the Lord of Fair Isle.
A Modest Affair: The union was sparsely attended, lacking great lords and ladies save for Lyman and Jocasta Lannister, and largely witnessed by bannermen and household knights.
The Regent's Fury: The sudden marriage infuriated Hand of the King Lord Rogar Baratheon and Queen Regent Alyssa. However, Jaehaerys and Alysanne openly rejoiced, commanding bells to be rung in King's Landing.
VI. The Second Bride: The Golden Wedding
The Kingmaker: Lord Rogar Baratheon consolidated immense power as Hand. Given Jaehaerys's youth and Alyssa's gender, many whispered that Rogar was the true ruler of the Seven Kingdoms.
The Political Match: To solidify this influence, Rogar announced his marriage to Queen Regent Alyssa, who at forty-two was considered beyond her childbearing years. Jaehaerys was quietly angered that they did not ask his leave.
The Spectacle: The union was performed by the High Septon in the unfinished Dragonpit before 40,000 smallfolk. Jaehaerys and Alysanne descended on dragonback, while visiting lords used the subsequent tourney to take the measure of their quiet, observant new king.
VII. The War for the White Cloaks
The Empty Ranks: With only Gyles Morrigen and Joffrey Doggett holding white cloaks, Alyssa suggested a test of arms to fill the remaining five Kingsguard vacancies.
The Trial by Combat: Asserting his growing authority, Jaehaerys decreed the tournament would feature no jousting, only combat afoot. Hundreds of knights competed over seven grueling days of blood and steel.
The First Seven: The victors—including Ser Lorence Roxton, Ser Victor the Valiant, and Pate the Woodcock—formed a legendary Kingsguard widely regarded as the finest to serve during Jaehaerys's half-century reign.
VIII. The Third Bride: Secret Vows
The Plot Against the Crown: Desperate to avoid another holy war, Rogar conspired to marry the king to the Tyroshi Archon's daughter and thirteen-year-old Alysanne to Rogar’s youngest brother, Orryn Baratheon.
The Flight to Dragonstone: Tipped off by "rats in the walls," Alysanne alerted Jaehaerys. The young monarchs summoned their Kingsguard, flew to Dragonstone, and were secretly married under the rites of Septon Oswyck.
The Hand's Overreach: Upon discovering the deception, Rogar and Alyssa sailed to Dragonstone. When Rogar ordered his knights to seize the monarchs, the White Cloaks drew their swords, firmly reminding the Hand that the boy, not Rogar, was the true king.
The Gates Close: Refusing to witness more bloodshed, Alyssa ordered the swords sheathed and departed. Jaehaerys and Alysanne sealed the gates of Dragonstone, spending the remainder of his minority ruling in secret, inseparable isolation.
Welcome to The Archive; I explore the mechanics of the esoteric and narrative structure. Below are the foundational guides and curriculums hosted on this blog.
WING I. ASTROLOGY & THE TRADITIONAL REVIVAL
• The Self-Taught Astrologer’s Syllabus: Foundations to Capstones
• Visualizing the Decans: Raw Drafts & Wheels
• Foundational Study Notes: The Paper Archive
• The Living Experiment: Open Enrollment
WING II. A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE
• The Weaver's Web : Director's Cut of AFFC/ADWD
• WEAVING OF THE WEB : Commentary from the Director
• Threads of Fate and Frost : Main Series Dissection
• Dragons of Flesh and Thread : A Fire & Blood Analysis
WING III. THE VISUAL GRIMOIRE
• Browse the Aesthetic Archives
WING IV. CARTOMANCY & CORRESPONDENCES
• Chronicles of the Arcana
❖ THE SHORT, SAD REIGN OF AEGON II & THE HOUR OF THE WOLF
(From Fire & Blood, Volume I)
The final days of the Dance of the Dragons are written in poison and ice. Though King Aegon II reclaims his throne, his reign is a bitter, broken shadow of his former glory, ultimately cut short by the treacherous vipers of his own court. As the realm attempts to heal, the terrifying arrival of Lord Cregan Stark plunges King's Landing back into fear, ensuring that the war's final chapter is closed with uncompromising Northern justice.
I. The Fall of the Three Kings
Aegon II's return to power began with the swift destruction of the pretenders who had claimed King's Landing in Rhaenyra's absence.
The Stormlander Assault: Lord Borros Baratheon marched his host into the capital, easily routing the disorganized mobs. Trystane Truefyre and Gaemon Palehair were captured without a fight. The Shepherd's 300 remaining followers were defeated, and the prophet himself was taken alive in a ring of dragon heads.
The King's Return: With the capital secured and Lord Corlys Velaryon pardoned to ensure the loyalty of his fleet, Aegon II finally returned to the Red Keep. Borne in a closed litter aboard a ship named the Mouse, the king was too broken to climb the Iron Throne, holding court instead from a wooden seat with a blanket over his shattered legs.
Fiery Justice: Aegon judged the "dayfly kings" harshly. Trystane Truefyre was knighted, then immediately beheaded with Blackfyre. The child Gaemon was spared, but his mother and court were hanged. The Shepherd, who refused to repent, had his tongue torn out and was burned alive by Aegon himself, alongside 241 of his pitch-covered followers.
II. A Broken King on a Broken Throne
Though Rhaenyra was dead, the war was far from over. Aegon II's uncompromising demand for vengeance alienated his remaining allies and fueled the advance of his enemies.
The Physical Toll: Aegon was in constant, agonizing pain from his burns and shattered legs. Unable to walk without dragging his leg, and rendered impotent by his injuries, the king frequently wept from shame after watching others engage in sexual congress. He demanded a new dragon to replace the late Sunfyre, but none of the seven eggs brought to him ever hatched.
The Council Divided: The Green Council was fractured. Corlys Velaryon fiercely advocated for pardoning the advancing Northmen and Riverlords, but Aegon refused, intent on mutilating Aegon the Younger and sending parts of him as a warning at Alicent's urging.
The Clubfoot's Web: Larys Strong played a dangerous double game, privately stoking Aegon's paranoia against Corlys while simultaneously warning the Sea Snake that the king planned to murder him once the war was won.
III. The Muddy Mess
While the Greens bickered, a fresh host of Riverlords—led by a group of young, battle-hardened commanders known as "The Lads"—marched on the capital.
The Battle of the Kingsroad: Lord Borros Baratheon confidently marched out to meet them. However, he charged his men blindly into a well-coordinated shield wall, while thirteen-year-old Benjicot "Bloody Ben" Blackwood smashed into his flank from the woods.
The Death of Borros: The Green army was shattered. Refusing to yield, Borros fought fiercely on foot, killing Lords Mallister and Darry before charging Kermit Tully. The Lord of Storm's End was struck down in the mud, sword in hand.
IV. The Poisoned Chalice
With the Baratheon host destroyed and the Riverlords days away, panic consumed the Red Keep.
The Secret Coup: Corlys Velaryon advised Aegon to surrender and abdicate, but the king and Dowager Queen Alicent refused, threatening to mutilate Aegon the Younger and Baela Targaryen instead.
The Silent Takeover: Knowing the city would fall, a quiet conspiracy unfolded. Ser Perkin the Flea secured the Red Keep, Baela was smuggled to safety, and Alicent was arrested on the serpentine steps by men wearing Velaryon badges.
The King is Dead: Aegon II was carried down to his litter for a trip to the castle sept. He drew the curtains against the chill and drank from a flagon of sweet Arbor red. When the litter arrived, the king was found dead with blood on his lips—poisoned by his own inner circle. He was twenty-four years old and had reigned for two.
--- THE HOUR OF THE WOLF ---
V. The False Dawn
When the Riverlords arrived, they were greeted by Corlys Velaryon and the newly freed Aegon the Younger under a peace banner.
The Lads: The triumphant Rivermen were led by a remarkably young generation: Kermit Tully (19), his brother Oscar, and Bloody Ben Blackwood (13). Alongside them rode Sabitha Frey and Black Aly Blackwood.
The Broken King: Ten-year-old Aegon III was hailed as king. Deeply traumatized by his mother's gruesome death, he was singularly joyless, silent, and dressed entirely in black.
A Fragile Peace: With Aegon II's corpse burned and a royal wedding between Aegon III and Princess Jaehaera planned, the realm briefly celebrated a "false dawn" of peace.
VI. The Wolf Descends
The peace was violently interrupted by the arrival of Lord Cregan Stark and a massive host of Northmen, who had marched south expecting a war.
The Northern Wroth: Twenty-three-year-old Cregan Stark arrived furious that the fighting was over. He had promised the late Prince Jacaerys a war, and he intended to march on Oldtown, Casterly Rock, and Storm's End to finish the Greens once and for all.
The Arrests: When Corlys argued that the war was done, Cregan refused to accept the dishonorable poisoning of a king—even an enemy king. He ordered the immediate arrest of Corlys Velaryon, Larys Strong, Grand Maester Orwyle, Ser Perkin the Flea, and nearly fifty others for regicide and high treason.
The Three Widows: Cregan's plans for a continued military campaign unraveled when three powerful widows—Johanna Lannister, Elinda Baratheon, and Samantha Hightower—all officially surrendered, yielding their regions to the crown and sending hostages.
VII. The Judgement of Cregan Stark
Denied his war, Lord Stark was named Hand of the King by Aegon III. For six terrifying days, he ruled King's Landing with an iron fist, determined to punish Aegon II's murderers.
Taking the Black: Cregan sat in brutal judgement. Recognizing their doom, twenty-two men—including Ser Perkin the Flea and Grand Maester Orwyle—elected to take the black and join the Night's Watch to save their lives.
The Blackwood Bargain: Corlys Velaryon confessed to his crimes, but Baela and Rhaena Targaryen pleaded for his life. Ultimately, it was Black Aly Blackwood who saved the Sea Snake. In exchange for Cregan sparing Corlys's life for the good of the realm, Aly surrendered her own, agreeing to marry the stern Northern lord.
Ice Falls: Only two men chose death over the Wall. Ser Gyles Belgrave of the Kingsguard refused to outlive his king. Larys Strong chose death over a freezing exile, requesting only that his clubfoot be severed after he was dead so he could be free of it in hell. Cregan Stark personally beheaded them both with the Valyrian greatsword, Ice.
The North Remembers: Justice served, Cregan Stark surrendered his chain of office the very next day. Having no interest in the politics of the South, he marched his men back home, famously declaring, "The snows are falling in the north, and my place is at Winterfell."
The Black Queen’s reign ends in fire, blood, and the bitterest of betrayals. As paranoia isolates Rhaenyra from her closest allies, King's Landing erupts into a catastrophic riot that claims the lives of her dragons and her son. Fleeing her lost capital, she returns to her ancestral seat only to find her greatest enemy waiting in the shadows.
I. The Moon of the Three Kings and the Dragonpit
With the arrest of Corlys Velaryon, Rhaenyra's remaining support in the capital evaporated. When Helaena Targaryen threw herself from Maegor's Holdfast to her death, rumors of murder ignited the city's starving, terrified populace into a full-scale rebellion.
The Shepherd's Mob: A crazed, one-handed prophet known as the Shepherd whipped the smallfolk into a frenzy, leading tens of thousands of armed peasants up the Hill of Rhaenys to slaughter the "demons" in the Dragonpit.
The Prince's Folly: Desperate to save the dragons, young Prince Joffrey mounted his mother's dragon, Syrax. Dragons are not horses to be mounted by any man, however. Unaccustomed to his weight and lacking a saddle, Syrax twisted mid-air, sending Joffrey plummeting to his death in the streets of Flea Bottom.
The Doom of the Dragons: The mob breached the Dragonpit, turning it into a fiery slaughterhouse. Shrykos, Morghul, and Tyraxes were killed by the swarming masses. Dreamfyre fought fiercely before crashing into the ceiling, bringing the massive dome down and crushing slayers and dragon alike. Syrax later descended to the ground and was also slain, completely breaking Rhaenyra's spirit.
II. The Second Battle of Tumbleton
While chaos reigned in the capital, the green army at Tumbleton was tearing itself apart from the inside, culminating in a devastating surprise attack.
Addam's Loyalty: Determined to prove that not all bastards are turncloaks, Addam Velaryon gathered a loyalist army and launched a brutal night attack on the green forces atop Seasmoke.
The Caltrops' Conspiracy: A group of green lords known as "The Caltrops" had already plotted to assassinate the treacherous Two Betrayers. During the chaos of the battle, Lord Jon Roxton gutted Hugh Hammer, while Prince Daeron the Daring perished in his burning tent.
The Dance of the Three Dragons: The battle culminated in a brutal clash between Seasmoke, Tessarion, and the massive Vermithor. All three dragons and Addam fought to the death in the mud and blood.
The Last Betrayer: Ulf White slept through the carnage but was poisoned the next day by Ser Hobert Hightower, who willingly drank poisoned Arbor Gold alongside the traitor to ensure his demise.
III. The Secret Fall of Dragonstone
Unbeknownst to the fleeing Black Queen, King Aegon II had survived and secretly returned to Dragonstone to take her castle from within.
The Hidden King: Smuggled out of King's Landing by Larys Strong, Aegon II hid on Dragonstone while his crippled dragon, Sunfyre, slowly made his way back to the island. Aided by turncloaks within the garrison like Ser Alfred Broome, Aegon seized the castle in under an hour.
Baela's Brave Stand: Lady Baela Targaryen managed to reach her young dragon, Moondancer, and fearlessly attacked the much larger Sunfyre in the sky. Sunfyre blinded Moondancer with fire and was eventually brought down and killed. Aegon II leapt from his saddle during the crash, shattering both of his legs.
IV. The Death of the Queen
Destitute, exhausted, and forced to sell her own crown to buy passage, Rhaenyra arrived at Dragonstone seeking safety, only to walk directly into a trap.
The Final Betrayal: Upon landing, Rhaenyra's loyal guards were slaughtered by Ser Alfred Broome's men. She was marched at spearpoint to the castle courtyard, where a scarred, twisted Aegon II and a dying Sunfyre awaited her.
Sunfyre's Feast: Refusing to cower, Rhaenyra delivered one final curse to her half-brother. In front of her traumatized, captive son, Aegon the Younger, she was bathed in dragonflame and devoured by Sunfyre, leaving only a portion of her left leg behind.
The Usurper Returns: With his rival dead and the war seemingly won, King Aegon II took his nephew as a hostage and began preparations to return to King's Landing and reclaim the Iron Throne.
King Jaehaerys and Queen Alysanne lead Westeros into an unprecedented golden age of infrastructure and legal reform, but their public triumphs are entirely hollowed out by relentless personal tragedy. While the realm flourishes under the construction of the Kingsroad and the abolition of the Lord's Right to the First Night, the Targaryen dynasty is decimated from within. The illusion of the dragon's divine immunity is shattered by the horrors of the Shivers, while the subsequent decades see the royal family ripped apart by scandalous rebellions, childbed fevers, and the violent, senseless deaths of their chosen heirs. Ultimately, the "Good Queen" and the "Conciliator" must face the grim reality that they cannot govern fate, watching their expansive family wither away until only ghosts and grief remain.
I. The Sunset Sea & The Edge of the World
The Voyage of the Sunchaser: Eustace Hightower returns to Oldtown in 59 AC with a harrowing tale of the Sunset Sea. While his ship turned back after discovering three virgin islands (Aegon, Rhaenys, and Visenya), Alys Westhill (Elissa Farman) pushed further west into uncharted waters.
The Asshai Connection: Though Farman is never officially seen again, her legacy haunts the edges of the known world. Years later, Corlys Velaryon claims to have spotted the weathered remains of the Sunchaser docked in the distant, magical port of Asshai, suggesting she successfully circumnavigated the globe.
II. The Shivers & The Death of Exceptionalism
The Plague of 59 AC: A brutal winter ushers in "The Shivers," an apocalyptic illness that paralyzes King's Landing. The resulting famine and panic spark violent riots in Flea Bottom, culminating in the brutal murder of the Master of Coin, Rego Drahaz.
The Shattered Illusion: The foundational Targaryen doctrine—that the blood of the dragon is immune to the diseases of common men—is permanently destroyed when six-year-old Princess Daenerys succumbs to the Shivers. The monarchs are forced to confront their terrifying vulnerability to the Stranger.
III. The Infrastructure of an Empire
The Kingsroad & Sanitation: Determined to leave a lasting physical legacy, Jaehaerys and Septon Barth pioneer massive public works. They fund complex sewer systems and public fountains to provide clean water to King's Landing, and begin the colossal undertaking of paving the Kingsroad to permanently bind the Seven Kingdoms.
The Third Dornish War: When the Vulture King attempts to catch the Stormlands unawares by sea, the Targaryen intelligence network easily anticipates the move. Jaehaerys, Aemon, and Baelon annihilate the Dornish fleet from the sky in a single day, while a dying Lord Rogar Baratheon secures a final, bloody victory in the Red Mountains.
IV. The Scandals & Tragedies of the Blood
The Defiance of Saera: The histrionic Princess Saera orchestrates a catastrophic public scandal involving three young knights and a King's Landing brothel. Jaehaerys personally executes her paramour, Braxton Beesbury, in a trial by combat. When Saera attempts to steal a dragon, she is permanently disowned, eventually escaping to Lys to reign as a wealthy courtesan.
The Vanity of Viserra: Desperate to avoid her arranged marriage to the elderly Lord Manderly, the fiercely beautiful yet narcissistic Princess Viserra attempts to seduce her brother Baelon. Upon failing, she sneaks out for a final night of rebellion and dies of a broken neck after crashing her horse in the capital streets.
The Frailty of Daella: The deeply anxious Princess Daella is wed to Lord Rodrik Arryn but dies tragically of childbed fever after giving birth to Aemma Arryn. Her death sparks the "First Quarrel," a profound emotional rift between the King and Queen.
V. The Myrish Bloodbath & The Winter of Life
The Senseless End of the Heir: In 92 AC, the brilliant Prince Aemon is killed on Tarth by a random Myrish crossbow bolt. In a howling grief, his brother Baelon the Brave descends on the invaders with Vhagar and Dark Sister, slaughtering them and cementing himself as the new Prince of Dragonstone.
The Fall of the Winter Child: Princess Gael, the delicate final child of the monarchs, vanishes from court in 99 AC. It is later revealed she drowned herself in Blackwater Bay after being seduced and abandoned by a singer, which had resulted in a stillborn son.
An Empire of Ghosts: Bereft and isolated in a court full of strangers, Alysanne retires to Dragonstone. She passes away in 100 AC at the age of sixty-four. Of the thirteen children she bore to secure the Targaryen dynasty, only three outlive her.
A king cannot rule from the shadows, but stepping into the light invites the blade. As Jaehaerys and Alysanne take to the skies to connect with the smallfolk, their burgeoning golden reign is derailed by the horrors of the Year of the Stranger. Between an assassination attempt in a sacred pool, the catastrophic theft of Targaryen dragon eggs, a brutal string of poisonings, and a child stealing the Black Dread, the young monarchs quickly learn that the greatest threats to the dynasty come from within their own fractured family.
I. The Royal Progress & The Widow's Law
Jaehaerys understood that the realm needed to see its sovereign. Rather than traveling with a massive, taxing host, the King and Queen progressed with no more than a hundred men, relying on the presence of Vermithor and Silverwing to command respect.
The Women’s Courts: While Jaehaerys held formal court, Queen Alysanne held her own audiences specifically for women at stops like Duskendale, Gulltown, and the Gates of the Moon.
The Widow's Law: Alysanne’s courts revealed the dire plight of the smallfolk, and highborn widows being cast out of their homes by their late husbands' heirs. Influenced by her findings, Jaehaerys enacted the Widow's Law, legally requiring heirs to maintain their stepmothers' households and forbidding the disinheritance of children from previous marriages.
Rebuilding the Capital: Appalled by the dark, filthy state of King's Landing, Jaehaerys widened roads, built central markets, and continued work on the Dragonpit. To fund this, Master of Coin Rego Drahaz imposed highly lucrative but deeply unpopular gate fees on travelers and livestock, further cementing his reputation as a loathed, "godless" foreigner.
II. The Maidenpool Assassination & Royal Births
The peace of the progress was violently interrupted at Maidenpool.
The Sweetwater Pool: While attempting to bathe in the sacred, women-only Jonquil's Pool, Queen Alysanne was attacked by three holy sisters whose hearts were hardened by the Faith's hatred of Targaryen incest.
The Scarlet Shadow: Alysanne’s companions shielded her until the Kingsguard arrived to dispatch the attackers. Furious, Jaehaerys summoned Jonquil Dark (the bastard half-sister of Lord Darklyn, who rode as a mystery knight at the Golden Wedding) to serve as Alysanne's sworn, personal protector.
Tragedy of the Heirs: Queen Alysanne birthed a premature son, Aegon, who died three days later. A devastated Alysanne blamed the Maidenpool attackers, believing the healing waters could have saved him. In 53 AC, she gave birth to a healthy daughter, Daenerys.
The Sea Snake: Across the Gullet on Driftmark, Daemon Velaryon celebrated the birth of a handsome, healthy boy: Corlys Velaryon.
III. The Stolen Dragon Eggs
While King's Landing thrived, Dragonstone remained a grim, smoky isle. Princess Aerea, a fiery and willful child, hated her isolation and bitterly resented being replaced by Daenerys as the heir. Rhaena, brooding and stern, found her "court" deteriorating.
Elissa’s Escape: Desperate to sail the sunset sea and denied funding by a possessive Rhaena, Elissa Farman departed Dragonstone for Essos.
The Theft: Dragonkeepers realized three dragon eggs were missing. After two weeks of searching they had not turned up. It was deduced that Elissa had stolen them to fund her ambitions.
Alys Westhill: Elissa traveled to Pentos and then Braavos under the alias "Alys Westhill," selling the eggs to the Sealord of Braavos and securing the gold in the Iron Bank.
The King's Ultimatum: Jaehaerys was furious with Rhaena's negligence. He declared that if the eggs ever hatched, he would demand their return—and if refused, the Targaryens would answer with fire and blood. He deployed spies across the Narrow Sea to track down the eggs.
IV. Taming the Faith in Oldtown
When the High Septon collapsed and died in the Starry Sept, the Faith was poised to elect Septon Mattheus—a man who fiercely condemned Jaehaerys and Alysanne's marriage.
Jaehaerys and Alysanne immediately flew to Oldtown on their dragons, with Silverwing lighting and physically fanning the flames of the Hightower itself upon arrival.
The King struck a calculated political bargain with Lord Donnel Hightower: if the Most Devout elected a champion of the crown, the subsequent High Septon would be a Hightower.
The Doctrine of Exceptionalism: On the fourth ballot, the Most Devout shockingly elected Septon Alfyn, an elderly, legless man who had tirelessly preached that Valyrians were a separate race exempt from the incest laws of the Seven. The Targaryen marriage was permanently legitimized.
V. The Death of a Queen
In 54 AC, the "Year of the Stranger" claimed the Queen Mother. At age 46, Alyssa Velaryon went into premature labor at Storm's End.
The baby was breached and tangled. The maesters informed a drunken, despairing Lord Rogar Baratheon that they had to cut the child out, which would kill the mother. Rogar ordered them to save the child.
Alyssa died without waking from the procedure. The child, a small but resilient girl, was named Jocelyn Baratheon.
Rhaena arrived on dragonback just hours too late to make amends with her mother. In her grief, she violently confronted Rogar, pulling him by the beard and threatening to turn Storm's End into another Harrenhal if he ever wed again. Rogar never did.
VI. The Tears of Lys
Back on Dragonstone, Rhaena’s husband, Androw Farman, had become a bloated, illiterate, and humiliated laughingstock. Mocked by Aerea and ignored by his wife— who never even took him flying— Androw’s bitterness mutated into lethal spite after his sister Elissa fled.
The Sickness: A mysterious plague struck Dragonstone, targeting mainly the women of Rhaena's inner circle. Maester Culliper, Cassella Staunton, Septa Mariam, Alayne Royce, and Samantha Stokeworth all died in agony from gut cramps and bloody stool.
The Last Companion: Lyanna Velaryon died last in Rhaena’s arms. When Androw asked if Rhaena would weep for him, she slapped him and banished him from her sight.
The Confession: Master of Coin Rego Drahaz accurately deduced it was not a plague, but the Tears of Lys. When confronted, Androw confessed to poisoning the women as a cupbearer. Before the guards could geld him, Androw threw himself from the window of the Chamber of the Painted Table. Rhaena had his body hacked into pieces and fed to the dragons.
VII. The Flight of the Black Dread
With Daemon Velaryon resigning as Hand of the King due to the mounting tragedies, Jaehaerys appointed the battle-tested Ser Myles Smallwood. However, the planned celebratory tourney was shattered by Rhaena storming the Red Keep.
The Missing Princess: Princess Aerea, driven mad by the suffocating gloom of Dragonstone, had vanished.
The Ultimate Theft: Aerea had not just run away; she had successfully claimed and stolen Balerion the Black Dread.
As the Year of the Stranger came to a close, a terrified Rhaena took to the skies on Dreamfyre to search for her daughter, while ravens flew to every corner of Westeros in search of the largest dragon in the world.
