
She had a younger full-brother, Aegon, and a younger paternal half-brother, who was also named Aegon but was raised as Jon Snow. Rhaenys Targaryen was the daughter of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and Princess Elia Martell. Rhaenys and her mother, Elia, during the war - glorified hostages at the Mad King's court. Aerys even threatened to blow up King’s Landing if his rule were ever challenged.Rhaenys, her mother, and her brother before Ser Gregor Clegane. Self-isolation led to Aerys’ increasing mistrust of the Lannisters, a penchant for fiery murder, and malnutrition due to a fear of being poisoned.
#Game of thrones family tree full#
Afterward, Aerys did not leave the Red Keep for years, paranoid that King’s Landing was full of traitors. Meanwhile, his sister-wife Rhaella suffered a shocking number of miscarriages and stillbirths, and Aerys grew jealous and paranoid of his successful Hand, Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance).Īerys officially earned the Mad King title after he murdered all of House Darklyn after Lord Denys Darklyn kidnapped Aerys during a tax dispute.

Aerys’ madness began to take hold of him after a fire killed his father and nearly wiped out the Targaryen line. He started his stint on the Iron Throne as a charming and charismatic war hero, but left it murdered by his own Kingsguard, Ser Jaime Lannister. Many of their children didn’t survive to adulthood, while those who did, like Aerys II, often inherited mental health issues.Īerys’ madness, like many Targaryens, only began to affect his mind later in life. House Targaryen, like most of the noble families who branched off the Old Valyrian tree, were more susceptible to illness due to their practice of inbreeding. House of the Dragon takes place almost two centuries before Game of Thrones, but the Targaryens began succumbing to madness long before Aerys II Targaryen was ever bestowed the Mad King nickname by the denizens of Westeros. Game of Thrones depicted three of Aerys II Targaryen’s adult children on-screen, including Daenerys (Emilia Clarke), Viserys (Harry Lloyd), and Rhaegar (Wilf Scolding).

But that doesn’t mean Viserys lacks his own share of Targaryen-inherited health issues. The Mad King was Aerys II Targaryen, not Viserys I Targaryen. Though initially presented as a leader full of visionary potential, Daenerys eventually spiraled into The Mad Queen, taking on her father’s unfortunate moniker. Those competitors included Daenerys, the first Targaryen dragonrider in over a century. The show begins about 150 years after the events of House of the Dragon, and features several characters vying for the Iron Throne. In Game of Thrones, Aerys II is played by David Rintoul in a flashback scene. House of the Dragon revolves around a pivotal decision Viserys makes that alters the fate of his children and his second wife, leading to one of the most important wars in fictional history: The Dance of the Dragons. Martin’s prequel novellas and novelettes, Paddy Considine plays Viserys, father to Season 1 protagonist Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock and Emma D’Arcy), and her half-sibling and future rival, Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney).

In HBO’s House of the Dragon, the television adaptation of George R.R.
