• Born: 244 AC, King’s Landing
• Died: 281 AC, King’s Landing
• Cause of Death: Murdered in the Red Keep by Jaime Lannister
• Title: Lord of the Seven Kingdoms
• Nickname: The Mad King

Aerys II Targaryen — the seventeenth Targaryen to sit on the Iron Throne — was the son of King Jaehaerys II Targaryen and Queen Shaera Targaryen. He was sworn in as Lord of the Seven Kingdoms in the year 262 AC — and the people of Westeros had no way of knowing what horrors their new king would instill upon them in the future. During the early years of his reign, Aerys was a fairly peaceful ruler — often being encouraged with nicknames such as “Aerys the Wise” or “Aerys the Great.” However, in 277 AC — when attempting to defy Lord Darklyn of Duskendale — Aerys and his men were attacked, and the king was taken prisoner.

Aerys was tortured by Darklyn for six months until Tywin Lannister — the acting Hand of the King — led an army to save his ruler. Following the torture, Aerys was never the same and quickly deteriorated into what the common folk referred to as The Mad King. Aerys was eventually responsible for the deaths of Eddard “Ned” Stark’s brothers Brandon and Rickard, which led to Robert’s Rebellion — one of the most pivotal moments in Westeros’ history. This is where Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark worked together to remove the Targaryens from power for good. Yet, it was a member of Aerys’ own Kingsguard, Jaime Lannister, who landed the killing blow. The events of Robert’s Rebellion are the immediate prologue to what viewers saw in Season 1 of Game of Thrones.

Rhaella Targaryen Was The Queen of Westeros

• Born: 245-247 AC, King’s Landing
• Died: 284 AC, Dragonstone
• Cause of Death: Complications of childbirth
• Title: Queen

Rhaella Targaryen isn’t discussed very often in Game of Thrones — and she never appears on-screen — but she’s still notable in the history that led to the HBO series. Not only was she the Queen of Westeros while being married to King Aerys II Targaryen, but she was also the mother of Rhaegar, Viserys, and Daenerys. Rhaella’s story is mostly a tragic one — being anchored down by The Mad King during his darkest days. It got so bad that the two rulers of the Seven Kingdoms would only have intercourse after Aerys had burned someone alive. Still, Rhaella became pregnant once again — though she rarely had time to enjoy her pregnancy.

Shortly after the death of her son, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, during Robert’s Rebellion, Rhaella was evacuated to Dragonstone to avoid the sacking of King’s Landing. There, she crowned Viserys king, although Westeros’ Great Houses already recognized Robert Baratheon as the true King. This would later lead to Viserys’ illusions of grandeur during the first season of Game of Thrones. Nine months later, Rhaella gave birth to Daenerys Targaryen — one of the primary characters in Game of Thrones — before dying due to complications brought on by the birth.

Rhaegar Targaryen Started a War for Love

• Born: 259 AC, Summerhall
• Died: 283 AC, the Trident
• Cause of Death: Killed in battle by Robert Baratheon
• Title: Prince
• Nickname: Silver Prince

Rhaegar Targaryen was said to be a kind, caring prince despite who his father was. These descriptions of him led many to doubt that he was evil enough to kidnap and assault the love of Robert Baratheon’s life, Lyanna Stark. Regardless, that’s exactly the picture of Rhaegar that the heroes of Game of Thrones painted to help justify Robert’s Rebellion — especially Robert himself, whose pride made him feel the need to lash out. Robert killed Rhaegar during the Battle of the Trident — but not before Rhaegar and Lyanna were married in a secret ceremony.

Sometime following Rhaegar’s demise, Lyanna gave birth to Rhaegar’s final remaining child — Aegon Targaryen, who Game of Thrones audiences were introduced to as Jon Snow. Ned Stark was present immediately following the birth, where he witnessed his sister Lyanna die — and where he promised to protect his enemy Rhaegar Targaryen’s son from his longtime friend and new king, Robert Baratheon.

Viserys Targaryen Was the King of Cowards

• Born: 276 AC, King’s Landing
• Died: 298 AC, Vaes Dothrak
• Cause of Death: Murdered with molten gold by Khal Drogo
• Title: Prince
• Nickname: The Beggar King

Viserys Targaryen was a bratty, spoiled man who felt entitled to the Iron Throne solely because of his last name. He did have good reason to, however. Viserys’ family had ruled for centuries before his mother, Rhaella, made the poor decision to name him the new king following the death of his father, the Mad King Aerys Targaryen. With Robert Baratheon firmly seated on the Iron Throne following Robert’s Rebellion, Viserys had little more than a pipe dream to work off.

Viserys attempted to marry his sister Daenerys off to the Dothraki Khal Drogo in exchange for an army, but this decision ultimately resulted in Daenerys gaining more favor with the Khal than Viserys could have ever imagined. The Beggar King’s story was ultimately a comedy of errors, being way too far over his head in his political machinations to the point that it got him killed. After pushing Drogo’s buttons one too many times, Viserys got the gold crown he had desperately sought — in the form of molten gold poured over his head by the Dothraki Khal.

Daenerys Targaryen Was the Last of The Targaryens

• Born: 281 AC, Dragonstone
• Died: 305 AC, King’s Landing
• Cause of Death: Murdered by Jon Snow (Aegon Targaryen)
• Title: Queen of the Seven Kingdoms
• Nickname: Mother of Dragons

Daenerys was the final child of the Mad King Aerys Targaryen, having been born on Dragonstone the year Aerys died. For most of her young life, she was forced to put up with her brother Viserys and his misguided belief that he’d one day become King of the Seven Kingdoms. After Viserys offered Daenerys to Khal Drogo in exchange for a Dothraki army, however, Daenerys rose in prominence as Drogo grew to care far more for her than the Beggar King himself. Following the deaths of both Viserys and Drogo, Daenerys and her three newly hatched dragons took control of the Dothraki army and went on a crusade across Westeros’ neighboring continent, Essos. After amassing an even larger army through the Unsullied, the Mother of Dragons set her sights on the Iron Throne — which she, like her brother before her, viewed as her birthright.

Daenerys forged an alliance with Jon Snow and helped Westeros defeat the White Walkers during the Battle of Winterfell — and in doing so, helped to save the entire world — but lost her longtime ally Jorah Mormont in the process. When Queen Regent Cersei Lannister had Daenerys’ other loyalist, Messendai, beheaded, she grew more paranoid by the day. Believing Jon Snow and her informant, Varys, to be turning against her — and learning of Jon’s true Targaryen heritage — Daenerys acted quickly and maniacally to capitalize on her claim. In 305 AC, Daenerys laid siege to King’s Landing to take control of Westeros. For a short time, she ruled over the land as Queen of the Seven Kingdoms — that is, until Jon Snow himself stabbed her in the stomach in what remained of the Red Keep, the very room where her father was killed. With Daenerys’ death and Jon Snow’s exile, the Targaryen’s royal lineage ended and Westeros was finally free from their rule.

Jon Snow (Aegon Targaryen) Lived as a Stark and Targaryen

• Born: 281 AC, Dorne
• Died: 302 AC, Castle Black
• Resurrected: 302 AC, Castle Black
• Cause of Death: Murdered during a mutiny of the Night’s Watch
• Title: King of the North

Jon Snow — born Aegon Targaryen under secret circumstances — is the main protagonist of Game of Thrones. Born to father Rhaegar Targaryen and mother Lyanna Stark, most of Jon’s life was a mystery to many. Only his adoptive father, Ned Stark, understood the true importance of the boy’s existence. Still, Jon Snow was able to forge his path after joining the Night’s Watch and became a paramount figure in the history of Westeros. Jon was the first to create peace between the Night’s Watch and the WIldlings and became the first brave enough to spearhead a campaign against the mythical White Walkers. Unfortunately, members of the Night’s Watch led a mutiny against Jon and cowardly murdered him in the dead of the night.

After being resurrected by the Red Priestess Melisandre, Jon was eventually named the King of the North when he avenged the Red Wedding by defeating Ramsay Bolton’s forces in battle. Jon Snow was extremely important in the Battle of Winterfell, where he helped defend Westeros from the White Walkers — biding time as his sister Arya landed the killing blow on their leader, the Night’s King. Jon went on to save Westeros once more — this time by murdering his lover (and his aunt), the manic Queen Daenerys Targaryen, following her assault on King’s Landing. In the end, the secret Targaryen prince was allowed to retire to the lands beyond the Wall in the far North, to live out what is left of his life in peace — although HBO may have other plans for Jon Snow in an upcoming spin-off.

Drogo Married and Supported Daenerys Targaryen

• Born: 267 AC
• Died: 298 AC, Dothraki sea
• Cause of Death: Murdered out of mercy by Daenerys Targaryen
• Title: Khal

While not even close to fitting the mold of your ordinary Targaryen, Drogo did wed the most important Targaryen that viewers met in Game of Thrones. Witnessing how Drogo treated her brother Viserys in Season 1 —including murdering him for being weak — Daenerys Targaryen grew to understand that she was more than capable of rising above the men of the Known World. Forging a somewhat problematic — yet still very real — romantic relationship with Drogo offered Daenerys her first opportunity to sit atop the political mountain and provide her with the courage and confidence to eventually wage war in Westeros.

Drogo’s death was the last straw that broke the camel’s back — sending Daenerys off on her crusade of Essos and, eventually, Westeros. In many ways, Drogo was more important to the Targaryens than even some prominent family members — certainly more than Viserys. Daenerys even named one of her dragons Drogon in honor of her late husband.

Lyanna Stark Became a Targaryen in Secret

• Born: 266 AC, Winterfell
• Died: 283 AC, Dorne
• Cause of Death: Death during childbirth
• Nickname: The She-Wolf

Lyanna Stark was the sister of Game of Thrones protagonist Ned Stark and the father of the show’s most popular hero, Jon Snow. She wasn’t technically a Targaryen — but that was solely due to the political catastrophe the Targaryens and Starks found themselves entangled in. The nature of her secret marriage to Rhaegar Targaryen ensured that she’d never be recognized in the Westeros history books as a true Targaryen — instead, she was cast as a victim of kidnapping and assault to justify wars being fought among men.

Regardless, according to the law established in the series, she was indeed a Targaryen by marriage — and this presented Jon Snow with the only true claim to the Iron Throne that the entire series ever saw. While Lyanna died shortly after giving birth to Jon — whom she named Aegon despite Rhaegar’s deceased son sharing the name — the promise she made Ned swear to keep inadvertently resulted in the War of the Five Kings.

Elia Martell Lost Her Children and Her Life

• Born: 256-257 AC, Sunspear
• Died: 283 AC, King’s Landing
• Cause of Death: Murdered by The Mountain Gregor Clegane
• Title: Princess

Much like Lyanna Stark, Princess Elia Martell wasn’t a true Targaryen but also married into the family through Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. Her marriage to Rhaegar was far more public, resulting in two children — Rhaenys and Aegon. Her death was a brutal one at the hands of Gregor Clegane — taking place on the same unfortunate day that her children died. There aren’t many details shared about Elia in Game of Thrones, but she played a major role in the motivations of her brother, Oberyn, during Season 4 of the HBO series. It was her death that drove Oberyn to challenge The Mountain in Tyrion Lannister’s Trial by Combat, which shed light on Twyin Lannister’s past wrongdoings but also resulted in the Dornish prince’s untimely death.

As if their prominence wasn’t completely evident via their role in Game of Thrones, HBO made the Targaryens even more important by focusing its first prequel series, House of the Dragon, on the early days of the family’s rule in Westeros. House of the Dragon Season 2 is currently in development, but HBO has also been mining more of George R.R. Martin’s work to adapt. The Tales of Dunk and Egg series is also in development, and there are still hundreds of years of Targaryen rule to bring to audiences should the network see fit. It’s safe to say that the Targaryens will remain a prominent family in the world of fantasy fiction — whether it’s on the page or the screen.