Maegor’s Stronghold, also called Maegor’s Holdfast, is a royal residence within the Red Keep. During the upheavals surrounding the Dance of the Dragons, it serves both as a place of confinement and as a vantage point over the city, linking the fate of the royal household to the violence beyond its walls.

Place within the royal court

The wider court at King’s Landing was part of Aegon I Targaryen’s effort to reconcile the conquered kingdoms: children from former enemy houses were brought to court, where they served the royal household and witnessed the king’s justice. The chronicles also place the Hand, the royal family, and their political struggles within the capital’s court. These accounts establish the setting around Maegor’s Stronghold, though they do not identify every court activity with the building itself.

A vantage point over the city

During the attack on the Dragonpit, Mushroom watched from the roof of Maegor’s Stronghold alongside Rhaenyra Targaryen, her sons, and members of her court. From this elevated position, they saw the torch-bearing crowd advancing through the dark city toward the Dragonpit. Rhaenyra had sent riders to defend the royal dragons and disperse the attackers, but the city’s turmoil made it uncertain whether the orders would reach their intended recipients. The roof thus places the royal household above the unfolding crisis without giving it control over events in the streets below.

Confinement and danger

The Stronghold’s drawbridge and the spikes surrounding it become part of the violence within the Red Keep. When Ser Alfred Broome crossed the drawbridge to reach Prince Aegon, Ser Perkin the Flea declared that a new king had been chosen and shoved Broome from the bridge; Broome died two days later. The episode shows that the fortress’s guarded approach could become a site of political killing during a sudden change of power.

In the aftermath, Prince Aegon was kept in Maegor’s Stronghold with Gaemon Palehair as his only companion. Lord Cregan Stark told him that the confinement was for his protection, warning that courtiers might use the prince to secure power in his name. The royal residence therefore functions not simply as shelter: it is also a controlled space where access to the king can be restricted and the struggle over who will govern him continues.