Daenerys Targaryen's father, Aerys II aka the Mad King was the last Targaryen king to live at the Red Keep. He was deposed by Robert Baratheon in a civil war, better known as Robert's Rebellion that lasted approximately a year. While King Robert, the first of his name became the seventeenth ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, the Targaryen monarchs before him were Aegon the Conqueror's progenitors. Both Game of Thrones and its prequel series, House of the Dragon make mention of King Aegon I's victories, political acumen, and his virtues. Born on Dragonstone in 27 BC to Lord Aerion Targaryen and Lady Valaena Velaryon, Aegon married his elder sister, Visenya in the tradition of House Targaryen and younger, Rhaenys out of love. Each of them bore him a son; Rhaenys' Aenys came first and became the second king on the Iron Throne, Visenya's Maegor came after and usurped the throne of Aenys' children, Rhaena and Aegon.
The late King Aenys I was married to his cousin, Alyssa Velaryon, and they had six children together. Rhaena, Aegon, Viserys, and Jaehaerys, and daughters, Alysanne and Vaella. Histories remember Aenys I's eldest son as Aegon the Uncrowned because his uncle Maegor the Cruel usurped his throne. King Maegor I, on the other hand, had three stillborn children by his six queens. The royal line continued through Aenys' children, and the fourth king to sit the Iron Throne was Jaehaerys I. He was known as the Conciliator for negotiating terms of peace between the Targaryens and the Faith and he served the realm for the longest period of time - fifty-five years. Jaehaerys I was married to his sister-wife, Alysanne, and together they had thirteen children. The old King outlived his Queen and all his children, and so in 101 AC called a Great Council at Harrenhal to decide on his succession. This historic event is picked up in the cold opening of House of the Dragon season 1, episode 1, "The Heirs of the Dragon." At the council, his eldest male descendant, Prince Viserys was chosen over his older cousin, Princess Rhaenys Targaryen. Viserys' rule marked a new chapter in the history of House Targaryen.
Who Rules The House Of The Dragon?
In House of the Dragon season 1, episode 5, "We Light the Way," Viserys and his Hand, Lord Lyonel Strong sat ruminating about the nature of his reign. "Will I be remembered as a good king, Lyonel? What will they say of me when the histories are written? I have neither fought nor conquered nor suffered any great defeat," the king exclaimed. While his Hand helped him see some might attribute peace in the realm to good fortune, little did the duo know, the Small Council and the king's disastrous policies and actions had seeded a war within the house of the dragon. When Viserys I died in 129 AC after battling the rot, the house of the dragon split into factions - Greens and Blacks. His oldest daughter from cousin Aemma Arryn, Rhaenyra was his decreed heir; and his firstborn son from Alicent Hightower, Aegon usurped her throne. The war that was fought between the Black Queen, Rhaenyra, and Aegon II over the control of the throne had great repercussions for the realm.
Nearly all of House Targaryen was decimated at the end of the Dance. Most of their dragons were gone, and four survived the war. Only one dragon egg was hatched in 153AC, and the hatchling, a deformed she-dragon didn't get to live long. As for the propagation of the Targaryen line, Rhaenyra and Daemon Targaryen's son, Aegon the Younger was placed on the Iron Throne in mid-131 AC. Aegon III inherited a fractured, war-ravaged realm and he himself was an unhappy king. The last dragon also passed away during the later years of his reign, earning him the moniker, "Aegon the Dragonbane." He married twice, first to Uncle Aegon II's daughter, Jaehaera in order to repair the crack in House Targaryen. Since the couple had no children, Jaehaera's alleged death by suicide ended Alicent Hightower's line.
Aegon III remarried Daenaera Velaryon and propagated the royal line through Daeron Targaryen. His other issues were Baelor, Daena, Rhaena, and Elaena. While the fourteen-year-old Daeron succeeded his father and became the eighth Targaryen king, his reign was cut short by his overambitious invasion of the Principality of Dorne. Uncle Benjen Stark aptly summarizes Daeron's invasion to Jon Snow, saying, "A conquest that lasted a summer. Your Boy King lost ten thousand men taking the place, and another fifty trying to hold it. Someone should have told him that war isn't a game." Daeron I was succeeded by his brother, Baelor the Blessed who observed very special forms of penance such as prolonged fasting. He obeyed the Faith of the Seven and constructed the very same Sept of Baelor that Cersei Lannister blew to smithereens in Game of Thrones.
Viserys II To Daenerys Targaryen
Baelor I was succeeded by his uncle, and Hand, Viserys II Targaryen. The secondborn son of Daemon Targaryen, many in the realm suspected Viserys II of poisoning Baelor for the throne. After Viserys' death in 172 AC, his eldest, Aegon IV better known as Aegon the Unworthy sat the Iron Throne. Arguably the worst Targaryen ruler, Aegon IV's most-harmful move was to legitimize all his bastard children on his deathbed, leading to the Blackfyre rebellions that plagued the Targaryens for five generations. The realm had no answer to Aegon's misrule until Aegon V ascended to the throne in 233 AC. Aegon V Targaryen succeeded his father, Maekar I after bypassing candidates ahead of him in the line of succession at a Great Council. He's the same king whom Maester Aemon Targaryen from Game of Thrones deliriously remembered as "Egg" on his deathbed.
Aegon V was consumed with the idea of restoring dragons to the Seven Kingdoms. He eventually died while trying to hatch dragon eggs at the castle of Summerhall. The next king on the Iron Throne was Aegon's secondborn son, Jaehaerys II. After him came his son, Aerys II (the Mad King) who wed his sister, Rhaella. Aerys' heir was Prince Rhaegar Targaryen who fell in love with Lyanna Stark, annulled his marriage to Elia Martell, and secretly wedded her. While Rhaegar was slain on the Trident by Robert Baratheon, his line lives through Lyanna's son, Jon Snow. As for Aegon V's elder brother, Maester Aemon, he said he was Daenerys Targaryen's last relation in Game of Thrones. When Samwell Tarly read out the challenges Daenerys faced in Slaver's Bay, Aemon remarked, "A Targaryen alone in the world is a terrible thing." This is where Jon Snow interrupted their meeting, unbeknownst to all that he too was a Targaryen.