Aegon's Conquest is being actively discussed at HBO as a potential Game of Thrones prequel (per Variety). This development brings into focus what is arguably the most important event in the recent history of Westeros. Also known as the War of Conquest/ the Targaryen Conquest, the campaign was initiated by the dragonlord, Aegon I Targaryen along with his sister-wives, Rhaenys and Visenya with three dragons by their side.
Game of Thrones season 1, episode 7 "You Win or You Die," mentions that Daenerys' ancestor, Aegon, seized the Seven Kingdoms not because he had any right but because he could. Quite obviously, it follows that the three large fire-breathing serpentine beasts made it possible for Aegon to unite six of the Seven Kingdoms in two years' time.
Aegon was born at Dragonstone, a volcanic island located at the mouth of Blackwater Bay. He was of Valyrian origin, as the Targaryens were among the forty noble families in Old Valyria, and the ones who escaped the Doom, thanks to Daenys. The Targaryen patriarch, Lord Aenar migrated to Dragonstone twelve years before the Doom of Valyria. He set sail after paying heed to his daughter, Daenys who foresaw the Valyrian cataclysm. By the time of Aegon's Conquest, the Targaryens had established a stronghold in Dragonstone. As a matter of fact, Aegon is the founder and the first king of the illustrious Targaryen dynasty. Every charismatic Targaryen, whether Rhaenyra and Daemon from House of the Dragon or Daenerys and Jon Snow from Game of Thrones are his descendants.
Who Was Aegon I Targaryen?
Daemon Targaryen in House of the Dragon season 1, episode 10 "The Black Queen," ironically states that dreams didn't make Targaryens kings but dragons did. This quote is inconsistent with their history simply because it was Daenys' dream that saved House Targaryen in the first place. Moreover, it's known that Aegon dreamt that in order to save "the world of men" a Targaryen must be seated on the Iron Throne. There's no denying that ambition and the lust for power drove Aegon to conquest, but more than most, he foresaw the end of the world of men that he prophesied would "begin with a terrible winter, gusting out of the distant North." Aegon called his dream "The Song of Ice and Fire" and its heart lay the idea that when the great winter came, a Targaryen, strong enough to unite all of Westeros against cold and dark must be on the Iron Throne.
Aegon showed interest in Westeros after the Century of Blood. The continent at the time was divided into Seven Kingdoms. The North was ruled by King Torrhen Stark, the Vale by Queen Regent Sharra Arryn (in the name of her son, Ronnel Arryn), the Iron Islands and the Riverlands by King Harren Hoare, the Westerlands by King Loren Lannister, the Reach by King Mern Gardener, the Stormlands by King Argilac Durrandon and Dorne by Princess Meria Martell. Prior to the Conquest, Aegon commissioned the Painted Table, carved from wood with a map of the Seven Kingdoms painted on it. The table is seen in Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, and it depicts Westeros without borders as Aegon considered the vast continent as one land.
Aegon's closest aides were his sister-wives, Visenya and Rhaenys, and rumored bastard half-brother, Orys Baratheon. Apart from them, he'd established alliances with minor houses namely Massey, Velaryon, Bar Emmon, and Celtigar. He'd claimed Balerion, while Visenya rode Vhagar (Aemond Targaryen's mount in House of the Dragon) and Rhaenys rode Meraxes. These were the last surviving dragons after the Doom and naturally, Aegon brought them to Westeros.
Aegon's Landing And Ending Harren Hoare's Line
The Conquest (likely an upcoming Game of Thrones prequel) started in the wake of the hostilities between the Storm King, Argilac Durrandon, and Aegon. The Storm King proposed a marriage between his daughter, Argella and Aegon, and she was to bring in all the lands east of the Gods Eye from the Trident to the Blackwater Rush as her dowry. Had Aegon accepted, Argilac would have succeeded in achieving two things in a single action, i.e. subduing the Conqueror and creating a buffer between the Stormlands and Harren's kingdom. Aegon was one step ahead of Argilac and offered Orys's hand in marriage instead. The offer offended Argilac and angered, he had the hands of Aegon's envoy cut off and sent to Dragonstone. Following this act of aggression, Aegon summoned his councilors and sent ravens to lords in Westeros, declaring his paramountcy.
Aegon raised a small army of about 3000 soldiers and landed on the eastern coast of Westeros near the mouth of the Blackwater Rush. Here he built a strategically defensible fort which he named after himself. His sister-wives conquered the nearby small Houses such as Stokeworth and Rosby. While Houses Duskendale and Maidenpool set out to challenge Aegon, they were easily defeated. Aegon's initial victories were followed by his coronation wherein he let the defeated keep their lands but join his side. Visenya crowned him with a Valyrian steel circlet and Rhaenys hailed him as King of all Westeros. His knights unfurled the Targaryen banner with a red three-headed dragon breathing fire. Aegon used this custom of heraldry to show that he was no longer a foreign invader. As a result, he earned the respect of the lords of Westeros, which sadly his descendant, Daenerys Targaryen was denied on Game of Thrones.
Aegon sent a fleet of ships under Daemon Velaryon to conquer Gulltown. While the Arryns killed Daemon and managed to defeat the Targaryen fleet, Visenya appeared and burned the Arryn fleet with Vhagar's fire. As for Aegon, he marched into the Riverlands because the cruel king, Harren Hoare was unwilling to bend the knee when Edmyn Tully, Lord of Riverrun had submitted to the Targaryen might. Harren the Black refused to yield, thinking his castle was impenetrable. That was until Aegon used Balerion to raze Harrenhal to the ground and end his line. The following day, the river lords pledged to Aegon, and Edmyn Tully was named Lord Paramount of the Trident. This piece of information necessitates a little context about the Tullys, and as a matter of fact, Game of Thrones' Catelyn Stark was born into House Tully of Riverrun, and she took great pride in her honor as a Tully.
Field Of Fire And Submission Of The Vale
Aegon and his sister-wives won two more victories, as Rhaenys and Orys defeated the Argilac in the Battle of the Last Storm. Orys captured the Storm's End fortress, married Argilac's daughter, Argella, and founded House Baratheon. Visenya meanwhile secured Crackclaw Point for Aegon. That said, the most formidable battle of the Conquest, i.e. Field of Fire, was yet to be fought. The said battle marked the only time all three dragons took to the battlefield. Furthermore, Aegon's smaller army defeated the combined fifty-five thousand Lannister-Gardener armies in the open plains, south of the Blackwater Rush. While in the initial stages, the Targaryen forces took a beating, in the end, Aegon's enemies had no answer for his three dragons who appeared from the skies and breathed fire on the ranks below. Field of Fire draws several parallels with Daenerys' Goldroad ambush, as depicted in Game of Thrones season 7, episode 4 "The Spoils of War." House Gardener was decimated while Loren Lannister escaped the battlefield. He was captured the following day, but he opted to bend the knee.
The Lannisters were stripped of their kingdom in the aftermath of Field of Fire. Loren was named Lord of Casterly Rock and Warden of the West, and the Reach was given to House Tyrell. Aegon now turned his attention towards Oldtown, the Arbor, and Dorne, but halted and gathered forces to face the King in the North, Torrhen Stark, instead. A battle wouldn't ensue because Torrhen took a cue from Harrenhal and Field of Fire and laid the crown of the Kings of Winter at Aegon's feet. His descendants guarded the North as Wardens, as Ned Stark did on Game of Thrones. With five out of Seven Kingdoms having met their defeat, Sharra Arryn surrendered after seeing her son, Ronnel sitting on Visenya's knee in Eyrie's inner courtyard. Ronnel rode on the dragon and Vale fell to Aegon.
The last one of the Seven Kingdoms, Dorne withstood Aegon's Conquest. Rhaenys flew down to the castles of Vaith, and Godsgrace and found them abandoned. She saw women and children at Planky Town and finally flew to the seat of House Martell, Sunspear. She spoke to the aged Princess of Dorne, Meria Martell in the abandoned castle. Meria declined to fight and kneel to Rhaenys, reminding her of the Martell words - "Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken." Rhaenys left and threatened to come again with Fire and Blood. Thus, Dorne remained unconquered during the Conquest, while Aegon was king on the Iron Throne. His descendant Daenerys lost the Throne and was assassinated by Jon Snow on Game of Thrones.