Wars of Conquest

The Wars of Conquest were the series of military campaigns led by Aegon Targaryen and his sister-wives, Visenya and Rhaenys, that unified the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros under a single ruler for the first time, establishing the Targaryen dynasty and the Iron Throne. The conquest reshaped the political landscape of the continent, replacing centuries of independent kingdoms with a centralized monarchy, and its legacy—the dragon-forged throne, the new noble houses, and the lingering resentment of the conquered—remains the defining historical event of the realm three centuries later.

Causes and Background

Before the conquest, the Seven Kingdoms were seven independent kingdoms, not mere provinces of a greater realm. The Targaryens were the blood of the dragon, descended from the high lords of the ancient Freehold of Valyria. Aegon's ancestors escaped the Doom of Valyria and settled on Dragonstone, a rocky island in the narrow sea. It was from there that Aegon and his sisters sailed to conquer the Seven Kingdoms. To preserve the blood royal and keep it pure, House Targaryen followed the Valyrian custom of wedding brother to sister; Aegon himself took both his sisters to wife. The Targaryen banner became a three-headed dragon, red on black, the three heads representing Aegon and his sisters. Their words were Fire and Blood.

The Campaigns and Key Battles

The conquest began with Aegon's landing at the mouth of the Blackwater Rush, where he built his first crude redoubt of wood and earth on the highest hill. The most decisive engagement was the Field of Fire, the only time that all three Targaryen dragons—Vhaghar, Meraxes, and Balerion—were unleashed at once. The hosts of King Loren of the Rock and King Mern of the Reach met on the broad plains of the Reach amidst golden fields of wheat. When the Two Kings charged, the Targaryen army began to run, but Aegon and his sisters joined the battle. Near four thousand men burned that day, among them King Mern of the Reach. King Loren escaped, lived long enough to surrender, pledge his fealty to the Targaryens, and beget a son. The conquest was not a single war but a series of campaigns. The riverlands, which had belonged to Harren the Black, King of the Isles, were taken when Harren and his sons perished in the burning of Harrenhal. Aegon rewarded Edmyn Tully of Riverrun by raising him to dominion over the lands of the Trident. The Starks of Winterfell, who had ruled as Kings in the North for thousands of years, yielded without battle. Torrhen Stark, the King Who Knelt, chose to swear fealty to Aegon the Dragon rather than give battle, becoming the first Lord of Winterfell. Dorne, alone of the Seven Kingdoms, was never conquered by Aegon the Dragon; it was not permanently joined to the realm until two hundred years later, and then by marriage and treaty, not the sword.

Consequences and Aftermath

The conquest established the Iron Throne, forged from the swords laid down by Aegon's enemies. Aegon commanded his armorers to forge a great seat from the swords of his vanquished foes, saying a king should never sit easy. The throne was a hunched black beast made of razor edges and barbs and ribbons of sharp metal, a chair that could kill a man. The conquest also created the office of the Hand of the King, the second-most powerful man in the Seven Kingdoms, who spoke with the king's voice, commanded the king's armies, and drafted the king's laws. The Targaryen succession continued for nearly three centuries, through kings like Jaehaerys the Conciliator, Daeron the Young Dragon, and Baelor the Blessed, until the line ended with the death of Aerys II Targaryen, the Mad King, and his heir Rhaegar, slain by Robert Baratheon on the Trident. The Wars of Conquest remain the foundational event of the unified realm, a time when dragons ruled the skies and the map of Westeros was drawn in fire and blood.