The Targaryen family tree: How exactly is House of the Dragon’s Rhaenyra related to Daenerys?

The Targaryen house from the Game of Thrones universe might be the most inbred family in TV and film, and it can get majorly confusing. Seriously, who is Aegon and why are there like 12 of him?

You’d think, given that most of our historical kings were called either Henry or Edward, that the House of the Dragon messiness would be easy to conquer. We were so, so wrong.

Sometimes, it’s difficult to remember how House of the Dragon leads to Game of Thrones, because over a hundred years separate the two shows. I’ll try to explain without my head exploding.

Credit: HBO

The Targaryen house is MESSY in House of the Dragon

Around three decades after Aegon the Conqueror united the seven kingdoms alongside his sister-wives and their dragons, King Jaehaerys I names Viserys (Paddy Considine) as the new king. He passes over the rightful heir, Princess Rhaenys, who becomes the Queen Who Never Was.

Initially, Viserys names his daughter, Rhaenyra, as the rightful heir to the Iron Throne, but she’s a woman with illegitimate heirs herself, so that causes some drama. Things only grow messier when he marries his daughter’s childhood bestie, Aliscent Hightower, bringing four new heirs into the world: Aegon II, Helaena, Aemond, and Daeron.

At the same time, Rhaenyra is birthing kids of her own. Jacaerys, Lucerys, and Joffrey were publicly the sons of Laenor Velaryon, but not-so-secretly fathered by Harwin Strong. They’re later betrothed to their cousins, and later, step-siblings.

Credit: The Tab

Fast-forwarding a little, after Laenor leaves to live his best gay life, Rhaenyra marries her uncle, Daemon Targaryen, giving him Aegon III, Viserys II Targaryen, and Visenya Targaryen.

By the end of The Dance of Dragons, the Targaryen line has been utterly demolished. Pretty much everyone is dead, so Aegon III takes the throne.

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Long story short: Most of the married couples either come with deeply unsettling age gaps or are related.

Sooo, how do we get from Rhaenyra to Daenerys?

Right, so after the events of House of the Dragon, the crown bounces around a bit between Targaryen relatives.

In terms of how we get to Daenerys from Rhaenyra, the line of succession is as follows: Aegon III, Daeron I, Baelor I, Viserys II, Aegon IV, Daeron II, Aerys I, Maekar I, Aegon V (Egg), Jaehaerys II, and Aerys II (Mad King).

After Aerys’ antics, the rebellion unseats the Targaryen dynasty as the rulers of Westeros. Things get disjointed from there, with the following people taking the throne: Robert Baratheon, Joffrey, Tommen, and then *briefly* Daenerys before she’s killed by Jon Snow – still not over this.

Things are obviously much different in the books, because I like to believe George R. R. Martin would never make Bran the king.

Here is the FULL Targaryen family tree

Credit: Useful Charts

Useful Charts has a very fun Targaryen family tree that also comes with a helpful video explanation. Good, my head hurts.

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Featured image credit: HBO