Fire & Blood

Content Warning: The source material in this section includes sexual assault and incest.

Gyldayn, a historian and archmaester (an academic) notes several misconceptions and myths about the origins of Aegon the Conqueror, founder of House Targaryen in Westeros. The Westerosi tradition of marking dates as BC (before Aegon’s Conquest) and AC (after Aegon’s Conquest) is imprecise because the date of the Conquest is debatable. The Targaryens were nobles in Valyria, but they were not of royal blood. The ancestors of Aegon Targaryen were the only dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria, a volcanic eruption that destroyed Valyria in 112 BC.

The Targaryens had one dragon and dragon eggs when they settled on Dragonstone. They settled across the water from Driftmark, the seat of fellow Valyrian immigrants of House Velaryon. The two families dominated trade and grew rich, ignoring the internal politics of Westeros for a century. Aegon was born in 27 BC and married his sisters Visenya and Rhaenys when he came of age. This Valyrian tradition of incest preserved the Targaryens’ special relationship with dragons, as well as their purple eyes and white-gold hair; however, the marriage violated the beliefs of the Faith of the Seven, the dominant Westerosi religion.