Aegon the Conqueror

Aegon the Conqueror, also called Aegon the Dragon, is the semi-mythical founder of the Targaryen dynasty and the first king to rule all of Westeros from the Iron Throne. He is the ultimate historical reference point for legitimacy, power, and conquest in the story, invoked by characters as diverse as Daenerys Targaryen, Eddard Stark, and Tyrion Lannister. His conquest, accomplished with his sister-wives Visenya and Rhaenys and their three dragons—Balerion, Meraxes, and Vhagar—ended the age of the Seven Kingdoms as independent realms and established a single, dragon-forged monarchy that endured for nearly three centuries. The Iron Throne itself, forged from the swords of his defeated enemies, remains the central symbol of royal authority, a seat that is as dangerous as it is powerful.

Conquest and the Founding of a Dynasty

Aegon's conquest began with his landing at the mouth of the Blackwater Rush, where he built his first crude fortification on the highest of the three hills of what would become King's Landing. From there, he and his sisters unleashed their dragons on the armies that opposed them. The decisive battle was the Field of Fire, the only time all three dragons—Vhagar, Meraxes, and Balerion—were unleashed at once. Near four thousand men burned that day, including King Mern of the Reach. King Loren of the Rock escaped, lived long enough to surrender, pledge fealty, and beget a son, an act for which Tyrion Lannister, his descendant, is "duly grateful." The conquest was not merely military; Aegon also established a new political order. He commanded his armorers to forge a great seat from the swords laid down by his enemies, declaring that a king should never sit easy. The resulting Iron Throne is a hunched black beast of razor edges and barbs, a chair that can kill a man, and has, if the stories can be believed. He also built the Red Keep, a fortress whose secrets were guarded by the death of every stonemason, woodworker, and builder who labored on it, as his son Maegor the Cruel completed it.

The Iron Throne and the Legacy of Rule

The Iron Throne is the physical and symbolic center of Aegon's legacy. It is described as an immense, ancient seat of twisted metal, full of spikes and jagged edges. Eddard Stark, sitting it as Hand of the King, finds it a "hellishly uncomfortable chair" that makes it impossible to lean back. The throne is a constant reminder of the cost of power and the nature of Aegon's rule. The Targaryen succession, which Aegon began, is a matter of law and custom that characters constantly debate. The line of succession, from Aegon I through Aerys II, is a known history, and the question of who is the rightful heir—Joffrey, Stannis, Renly, or Daenerys—drives the central conflict of the story. Aegon's own practice of wedding sister to brother to keep the bloodline pure is a tradition that Viserys Targaryen insists upon, telling Daenerys that "dragons did not mate with the beasts of the field, and Targaryens did not mingle their blood with that of lesser men." This practice is later echoed in the incestuous relationship of Cersei and Jaime Lannister, who justify their union by pointing to the Targaryen precedent.

Aegon in Memory and Prophecy

Aegon the Conqueror is not merely a historical figure; he is a living presence in the minds of the characters. For Daenerys Targaryen, he is the ultimate ancestor whose blood she carries. She thinks of herself as "of the blood and seed of Aegon the Conqueror" and later claims to be "Daenerys of House Targaryen, of the blood of Aegon the Conqueror." Viserys compares Khal Drogo to Aegon, calling him "Aegon the Dragonlord come again." For the Starks, Aegon represents the end of their ancient independence. Bran recalls that Torrhen Stark, the King Who Knelt, yielded to Aegon the Conqueror, ending the line of the Kings in the North. The memory of this submission is a source of both pride and resentment, and when Robb Stark is declared the King in the North, it is a direct rejection of Aegon's unification. The name of Aegon's dragon, Balerion the Black Dread, is also a touchstone. Tyrion Lannister, standing before Balerion's skull in the Red Keep's cellar, is awed by its size, imagining how it must have looked when it "spread its great black wings and swept across the skies, breathing fire." The skulls of Aegon's dragons, along with those of his descendants, once hung on the walls of the throne room, a constant reminder of the power that founded the dynasty, until Robert Baratheon replaced them with tapestries. The memory of Aegon's conquest is also a source of fear. Cersei Lannister, when confronted by Eddard Stark, reminds him that "Aegon the Conqueror had built" the Red Keep, and that its secrets were guarded by death. The legacy of Aegon is thus a complex one: a founder, a conqueror, a symbol of unity, and a reminder of the brutal cost of power.