'House of the Dragon' on HBO: How the dragon-riding Targaryens were brought down to their knees
You know that feeling when you're really in love with a series, and you want to know everything regarding the actors, the storyline of the movie, the thought process of the creators, and the history of the characters and the backdrop? We understand that and so we got you a mini intel that would help you comprehend the entire Targaryen family's rise to the Iron Throne and its fall. As we already know from 'Game of Thrones', the Targaryens were left behind in extensively dreadful conditions after their fall, but the audience never got a visionary representation of it until the creators decided to come up with 'House of the Dragon' mainly focusing on the Targaryens and their rise to power and the conflict that followed.
However before we skip to all the details of the Targaryen's rise to power and downfall, HBO's highly anticipated show is airing Sunday, August 21, 2022. You can tune into HBO, or stream it on HBO Max as when the series premieres.
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So how did the Targaryen clan rise to power and ruled over the Westeros' seven kingdoms? House Targaryen was one of the 40 ancient noble houses known as dragonlords who ruled the Valyrian Freehold, a great empire spanning much of Essos. The Targaryens were not one of the most powerful houses, however.
During the century after the Doom, which became known as the Century of Blood due to the violent struggles for power in Essos, Volantis attempted to seize power over Valyria's colonies. Most of the other Free Cities rebelled against Volantis, and towards the end of the Century of Blood, the young Lord Aegon Targaryen, rider of the dragon Balerion, was approached by Pentos and Tyrosh to form an alliance. Aegon, mounted on his dragon Balerion, flew first to Pentos to meet its prince, and then to Lys, where he set the Volantene fleet aflame. With Volantis' rule coming an end, he returned to Dragonstone and focused his attention on the lands west, which had always been of interest to him.
Ambitious Aegon Targaryen, Lord of Dragonstone, aspired to unite the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros under one ruler. Slightly more than a 100 years after the Doom of Valyria, he began his conquest, in which he was aided by his two sister-wives, Rhaenys and Visenya. In total, he had managed to conquer six of the seven kingdoms, with only Dorne remaining defiant. During the war, House Gardener, which had ruled the Reach, and House Hoare, which had ruled the Iron Islands and the riverlands, were extinguished, while House Durrandon, which had reigned over the Stormlands, was continued through the female line. From the swords of his enemies, Aegon created the Iron Throne, and the dynasty he began would rule for nearly 300 years. Aegon had constructed a wooden castle, the Aegonfort, at the place where he had first come to shore, and the town that grew around it became King's Landing, the kingdom's new capital. Dragonstone remained in the possession of the Targaryens as well, and was one of Aegon's favorite places. The region around King's Landing became known as the crownlands.
House Targaryen ruled as the Kings of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, the Lords of the Seven Kingdoms, and the Great House of the crownlands for nearly 300 years. Seventeen male Targaryens ruled from the Iron Throne. But sadly enough, the dynasty ended with the death of Aerys the Mad. Although he wasn't always a lunatic, he turned mad due to consecutive deaths of 17 unborn children. The king during Robert's Rebellion, in which the Targaryens were overthrown and replaced by House Baratheon. The two surviving children of Aerys II, Viserys and Daenerys Targaryen fled into exile, and have resided in the Free Cities of Essos ever since as shown in 'Game Of Thrones'.
