When it comes to the fast-approaching HBO series, House of the Dragon, and its newly released official trailer, fans who aren't readers of George R.R. Martin's books can feel a little lost when it comes to the story's sweeping fictional lore. Therefore, a quick primer provides some key historical facts that, once a viewer knows them, explain a lot of the Targaryen's backstory during their reign.
Setting the basis of House of the Dragon is Martin's Fire & Blood, exemplifying Targaryen's famous motto. It sets the stage for the Targaryen's stories, whether their greatest foes, the battles, or prophecies leading to Game of Thrones.
The Targaryens Of Valyria
Ancient Valyria was the biggest, most powerful city in the explored world, similar to the power of ancient Rome in the midst of its sprawling empire. Like Rome in its dark periods, Valyria was a hotbed of political conspiracy, secret alliances, betrayals and assassinations.
As a middling House among forty Houses in the Valyrian Freehold, the Targaryens were not a major force among the dragonlords as each clan maneuvered for political power. It would take the results of natural catastrophe and the determination of Aegon the Conqueror (and dragons) to turn the Targaryens into kings and queens.
The Prophecy Of Daenys The Dreamer
The only reason the Targaryen bloodline survived was due to the oracle-like foresight of Daenys Targaryen, Lord Aenar Targaryen's maiden daughter.
Through an incredible stroke of fate, luck, magical ability or whatever, Daenys experienced a vision of Valyria's fiery destruction in the volcanic maelstrom of The Doom. It was rumored that Daenys had recorded her Valyrian visions in a tome called Signs & Portents, which, if it had existed, was lost by the time of The War of The Five Kings.
The Targaryens Move To Dragonstone
Believing in the prophecies of Daenys, Lord Aenar Targaryen packed up House Targaryen lock, stock, and barrel, and in 114 BC (12 years before the Doom), relocated everything to faraway Dragonstone in the Narrow Sea. This event would establish the Targaryen's occupancy at Dragonstone, and Game of Thrones fans can assume this location will feature in House of the Dragon since it's been shown in the teasers/trailers.
Aenar was serious about this relocation. Selling all his property in the Freehold and the Lands of the Long Summer, he departed with everything the Targaryens possessed, including all his wives, children and relatives, his entire household, and five dragons. The other Houses of the Valyrian Freehold believed the Targaryens were fleeing out of fear, and Lord Aenar was given the name "Aenar the Exile."
Their New Location Was A Tactical Advantage
As the westernmost outpost of the vast Valyrian empire, the craggy, desolate isle of Dragonstone and its imposing castle served as the Targaryen's new home. Considered a part of the Crownlands, the austere outcropping contained veins of volcanic rock known as dragonglass.
Strategically well-placed on Dragonstone, the Targaryens formed close alliances with the Valaryons of Driftmark and the Celtigars of Claw Isle and together they controlled much of the trade ing through the Narrow Sea. In many ways, it was the perfect launching point for an invasion of Westeros and help build up to the alliance that formed in House of the Dragon.
The Doom Of Valyria
As one of the most legendary events in Game of Thrones history, the five thousand year old Valyrian Freehold, along with its people and dragons, was utterly destroyed by a tremendous geological cataclysm.
The Valyrian peninsula contained a string of volcanoes called the "Fourteen Fires," famous for being the birthplace of dragons. When the volcanoes erupted in a massive chain reaction of fire and earthquakes, they split the peninsula and annihilated everything alive in Valyria. The Doom occurred 400 years before The War of The Five kings and twelve years after Lord Aenar Targaryen had moved his family to Dragonstone. Henceforth, Daenys prophecy had proven to come true, and it only brings more curiosities of the additional mythos that will effect the Targayen family in House of the Dragon.
Aegon The Conqueror
In 27 BC, Aegon Targaryen, considered one of the best Targaryen characters in House of The Dragon, was born to Aerion, Lord of Dragonstone, and his wife, Lady Valaena of House Valeryon. In the Targaryen tradition of keeping the bloodline pure, Aegon married his sisters, Visenya and Rhaenys.
Hinting at his glorious intentions, Aegon later had the Painted Table commissioned; it was essentially a gorgeous strategic map of Westeros. Considered one of the great warriors and leaders of his time, Aegon used warfare only as a means of power and did not revel in the bloody glories of the battlefield. Dearly faithful to both his wife-sisters and generous to his loyal followers, he had few close friends except for Orys Baratheon, which only foreshadows the events in Game of Thrones.
Aegon's Dragons
When Lord Aenar Targaryen moved his family from the Valyrian Freehold to Dragonstone, he brought his five dragons with him; the only one of these early dragons to live long enough to be around in Aegon's time was Belarion, the Black Dread, who may be glimpsed in the new trailer.
Two more of the Targaryen's famous dragons, Vhagar and Meraxes, were hatched later at Dragonstone. While Aegon rode the black Balerion, his warrior Queen Visenya was bonded to Vhagar, and Queen Rhaenys was attached to Meraxes. The huge and powerful Vhagar's color is not specified in the books, but an artist named Sam Hogg asked Martin's team for clarification and revealed in a tweet, describing her as being "bronze with greenish-blue highlights and bright green eyes" (via Illustrator Sam Hogg on Twitter). Meraxes was even larger than Vhagar and had golden eyes and silver scales.
Aegon's Conquest of Westeros
Sending forth a batch of ravens, the ambitious Lord Aegon demanded the quarrelsome kings of the Seven Kingdoms bend the knee or suffer destruction.
Atop his mount Balerion the Black Dread and armed with the Valyrian steel blade Blackfyre, Lord Aegon began his invasion of Westeros. As each kingdom fell or surrendered before the fiery breath of his dragons, King Aegon Targaryen I proved himself a fair tyrant, rewarding those who bent the knee while incinerating his enemies and executing any rebels or traitors. One of these places includes Winterfell, where the Starks bent the knee to the Conqueror. This would lead up to Game of Thrones, as Robb Stark attempted to secede from the kingdom.
The Founding Of King's Landing
When Aegon first brought his army of bannermen and dragons from Dragonstone, his ships landed at Blackwater Rush, a small fishing village overlooked by three hills. Aegon immediately raised a rough palisade strongpoint called Aegonfort on the tallest hill, soon known as Aegon's High Hill.
Once Aegon's conquest of Westeros was complete (with the exception of Dorne), he returned to the Blackwater Rush and founded the city of King's Landing on the place where he'd first landed in Westeros. Having collected the swords of the armies he'd defeated, Aegon used them to create his legendary Iron Throne, a throne many characters in Game of Thrones deserved, but only one could win.
Aegon's Timeline Became The Calendar
Aegon the Conqueror's victories re-shaped Westeros dramatically, crushing formerly dominant Houses (in some cases, extinguishing them) and realigning the Seven Kingdom's power structure through alliances and replacing old Houses in favor of new (loyal) ones.
So great is Aegon's stamp upon Westeros that the maesters of the Citadel date and track their records and histories using "BC" (before the conquest) and "AC" (after the conquest), and his colossal legacy makes the Targaryens one of the most meme-worthy Houses on Game of Thrones.
The Baratheon Relationship To The Targaryens
Aegon Targaryen had few friends, but he was extremely close to one man, Orys Baratheon. They'd been childhood friends and the brawny, black-haired Orys served as Aegon's loyal champion.
Upon landing at Blackwater rush, Aegon declared Orys as "my shield, my stalwart, my strong right hand," and Westerosi maesters consider Orys to be the first Hand of the King. Always at Aegon's side in battle, Orys killed the last of the Storm Kings, King Argilac Durrandon at the Battle of Storm's End. To honor the fallen king, Orys would take the widowed Lady Argilac as his wife, Storm's End as his seat, and the crowned stag of the Durrandons as his sigil. Of course, this alliance would soon end 200 years later when Robert's Rebellion initiated a war in Westeros between the Targaryens and Baratheons. Nevertheless, House of the Dragon will showcase the never-before-seen friendship that once brought the two houses together.