Once upon a time in the fantasy land of Westeros, a clan of fireproof, dragon-riding blondes took over the Seven Kingdoms and committed a shocking amount of direct sibling incest. They were House Targaryen, and they ruled for centuries until one of their descendants fumbled the bag and let Robert Baratheon usurp the throne. Then came the story of Game of Thrones… and we all know how that turned out.
House of the Dragon turns back the clock to the weird old days of Targaryen rule — more specifically the period before and during a civil war called the Dance of the Dragons. Needless to say, there are a lot more Targaryens around in this time than there were during Thrones, and remembering who’s related to who is a lot harder in this show. Don’t worry though, we got you.
This is the family tree as it exists at the start of House of the Dragon. Only the most relevant children in each generation are included, since fully outlining the dozens of rogue cousins, usurpers, minor monarchs, and temporary heirs would literally take longer than just watching the first episode.
Aegon “The Conqueror” Targaryen and Rhaenys Targaryen
If there’s one dead Targaryen the people on Game of Thrones mentioned most (besides the Mad King and Rhaegar), it’s Aegon “The Conqueror.” He founded the royal line by taking over the majority of the Seven Kingdoms and uniting them under his rule. Aegon also married both of his sisters, Rhaenys and Visenya, according to the extremely nasty family tradition of keeping their bloodline “pure” — a word which here means “dragon-riding and potentially insane.”
Incest: Siblings.
Relevant children: Aenys Targaryen
Aenys Targaryen and Alyssa Velaryon
First of all, it’s pronounced “Ennis.” Be nice. His wife Alyssa was a Velaryon, so the Velaryon family has had skin in the game (of thrones) since the foundation of the Targaryen dynasty.
Incest: First cousins, which is the genetic equivalent of a rando off the street for this family.
Relevant children: Jaehaerys Targaryen and Alysanne Targaryen
Jaehaerys “The Old King” Targaryen and Alysanne Targaryen
As far as sibling incest goes, these two are actually…kind of sweet? They were supposed to be married off to other families but ran away to elope together because they loved each other from childhood. (Yeah, nope. Still bad.)
Jaehaerys and Alysanne ruled well together and their reign was a golden age for the Targaryens. They also had tons of kids but only four of them really mattered in the long term.
Incest: Siblings.
Relevant children: Aemon, Baelon, Alyssa, and Daella — in that birth order.
Aemon Targaryen and Jocelyn Baratheon (not pictured)
Aemon was the firstborn surviving son and heir of Jaehaerys I Targaryen. He married a Baratheon, which seems like it would be not super incest-y, but that Baratheon was also his aunt. Aemon died before his father, passing the role of heir down to his younger brother Baelon.
Incest: Whatever a guy marrying his parents’ shared half-sister is.
Relevant children: Rhaenys Targaryen
Baelon Targaryen and Alyssa Targaryen
Ah, so we’re back to marrying our siblings. Baelon had two sons with his sister Alyssa and became the new heir after his brother Aemon died. Then he died, leaving Jaehaerys and Alysanne with exactly zero eligible sons to inherit the throne directly.
Incest: Siblings. Again.
Relevant children: Viserys and Daemon Targaryen
Daella Targaryen and Roderick Arryn (not pictured)
Daella Targaryen married young and unfortunately died giving birth to her first and only daughter, Aemma.
Incest: Absolutely none, which is quite a shock.
Relevant children: Aemma Arryn
Rhaenys Targaryen and Corlys Velaryon
Rhaenys is the firstborn child of Aemon Targaryen and eldest granddaughter of Jaehaerys and Alysanne. She’s married to Corlys “The Sea Snake” Velaryon in a love match that consolidates a ton of the realm’s wealth and power into one badass mega-family.
However, her claim to the Iron Throne (as well as the claim of her son Laenor) was passed over in favor of her younger cousin Viserys. Was that a bad move? Tune in to find out!
Incest: Super distant cousins, to the point where it’s a wash.
Relevant children: Laenor and Laena Velaryon (not pictured, they’re important later)
Viserys Targaryen and Aemma Arryn
The king and queen at the start of House of the Dragon are Viserys and Aemma, the children of Baelon and Daella Targaryen, respectively. They have one daughter, Rhaenyra, and hope to have a son, mainly because in the absence of a son the throne might pass to Viserys’ brother Daemon.
Now, to bring this full circle: Remember the part about Targaryen blood purity meaning “dragon-riding and potentially insane?” That’s Daemon to a T. And the T is for Targaryen.
Incest: First cousins.
Relevant children: Rhaenyra Targaryen
New House of the Dragon episodes are available every Sunday on HBO and HBO Max.
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