In 244 AC, while King Aegon V ruled the Seven Kingdom, the heir to the Iron Throne Prince
Jaehaerys and his sister-wife Princess Shaera had their first child, naming him Aerys Targaryen.
While still in his early teens, Aerys was wed to his sister Rhaella, at the command
of their father Prince Jaehaerys who heard a prophecy from a woodswitch*, which he interpreted
to mean the legendary Prince who was Promised would be born of their bloodline.
Although Aerys and his sister/wife did not love each other romantically, they did their
duty and produced a son they named Rhaegar, born in 259 AC. On the same say as the tragedy
of summerhall which killed King Aegon V, his first son Prince Duncan, and many more.
The crown then passed to King Jaehaerys II, with Prince Aerys becoming a father and heir
to the Iron Throne at the age of 15 Aerys spent most of his childhood in King’s
Landing where he befriended a young Tywin Lannister who was serving a cup bearer to
the King, and Steffon Baratheon, who served as a page in the royal court.
All 3 young men would fight for the Royal forces during the War of the Ninepenny Kings
in 260 AC, with Prince Aerys earning his knighthood, granted the honor by his friend Tywin, who
was already a Knight. Two years later King Jaehaerys died of illness,
and the crown passed to his sole son and heir, who would come to be known as King Aerys II.
In those early days Aerys was a young, handsome and charismatic ruler, and while not particularly
skilled in the day to day administration of the realm, he made the wise decision of appointing
his longtime friend Tywin Lannister as Hand of the King, and together they brought 12
years of peace and prosperity to the Seven Kingdoms.
While Tywin handled the governing of realm, Aerys occupied himself by keeping an active
and energetic Royal Court in King’s Landing. To begin he replaced the court officials of
his father, with a younger generation of nobles, filled the halls of the red keep with beautiful
young maidens from across Westeros, and hosted many balls and festivals, encouraging music
and dancing. Desiring to be the greatest ruler the Seven
Kingdoms had ever known, he thought up grand and ambitious plans to build his legacy, though
made no effort to accomplish any of his goals, quickly losing interest in his own ideas.
Among the many failed plans of King Aerys II, were his desire to invade and conquer
the Stepstones, in order to add those territories to the Kingdom.
He then later desired to invade the far north beyond the wall, sending his armies against
the Wildling tribes in order to build a second wall further north, adding the conquered lands
to the Kingdom. He also once announced he was going to build
a new city of white marble on the South Bank of the Blackwater after complaining about
the foul smell of King’s Landing. The King then continued his meaningless proclamation,
threatening to construct a massive naval fleet to invade and conquer Braavos, after a dispute
with the Iron Bank and on a trip to Dorne, claimed he would build an underwater canal
in the territory to make the dessert bloom with life.
Yet while Aerys enjoyed the pleasures of being king, announcing grand plans that would never
be completed, the Hand of the King Tywin Lannister was ensuring the prosperity of the realm.
In 267 AC Tywin resolved the Kingdoms dispute with the Iron Bank, using his own wealth to
settle much of the debt. He also created unity and goodwill amongst
the nobility by revoking the rights of commoners enacted by Aegon V and improved relation with
merchants by lowering tariffs on shipping to Oldtown, Lannisport, and King’s Landing.
Tywin also dealt relatively fairly with the common people, punishing bakers who mixed
sawdust into their bread and butchers who sold horsemeat as beef. He invested in infrastructure,
repairing and building roads and held tournaments to delight and entertain both nobility and
the Smallfolk. With so much being accomplished by the Hand,
and so little by the ruler himself, many began to gossip about Tywin being the true King,
and Aerys his mere puppet. And while they had been friends for many years, Aerys resented
the acclaim being given to his servant, and in time grew more bitter and jealous of Tywin’s
accomplishments. Adding to the King’s troubles would be a
number of personal tragedies he would suffer with his wife Queen Rhaella, who had a miscarriage
in 263, then another in 264. In 267 she gave birth to a stillborn girl they named Shaena.
And in 269 she gave birth to Prince Daeron Targaryen, who died within half a year. In
270 Rhaella again had a miscarriage, and after so many failed attempts to produce another
child, Aerys was convinced she was cheating on him, and that the gods were killing the
children so that a bastard would not sit the iron throne. And so he wife away in Maegor’s
Holdfast, ordering that 2 Septas sleep with her in her bed to ensure she stayed faithful
to the King. Yet despite these actions, the Queen again
suffered a miscarriage in 271 AC and gave birth to Prince Aegon in 272, who lived for
a year before dying. Aerys sank deeper into depression and madness
with each passing tragedy, but at last in 274, his wife gave birth to a boy they named
Jaehaerys, and for a time the King partially recovered from his despair. But when the boy
died later that year, Aerys snapped, executing the child’s wetnurse and her family.
In 276 AC, Queen Rhaella finally gave birth to a healthy child they named Prince Viserys
Taragaryen. But the King had grown extreme in his paranoia and fear, burning all gifts
sent to the child and isolating the boy, forbidding all from seeing him except for the King’s
guard who accompanied the child at all times. This increasing instability caused further
problems for the Kingdom, as Aerys began overruling Tywin’s decisions for no reason other than
his jealousy and pride. When the Hand of the King Sided with House Blackwood in a dispute
in the Riverlands, the King declared for House Bracken. When war broke out between Volantis
and the cities of Lys and Tyrosh, Tywin suggested neutrality, so the King provided money and
weapons to Volantis. When Tywin offered his brother Tygett Lannister as Master at Arms
for the Red Keep, the King again overruled him and named Ser Willem Darry to the position.
Aerys also hatched a scheme to damage Tywin’s reputation, increasing tariffs in the 3 cities
Tywin had lowered them. When the Merchants came to the capital to complain, Aerys blamed
Tywin for the decision, and vowed to lower the Tariffs, making himself look like the
hero coming to save the day. With so much tension and bitterness being
fostered between the old friends, Tywin hosted a tournament at Lannisport in honor of the
birth of Prince Viserys, then offering his daughter Cersei Lannister as a wife for Prince
Rhaegar, in order to reconcile, reaffirming their friendship and alliance.
But the Mad King refused, and insulted House Lannister, claiming Cersei was not fit to
marry his son, then abruptly leaving the tournament before even the final feast.
Back in King’s Landing, Aerys would continue his campaign to contradict Tywin at every
turn, this time with how they would deal with the Defiance of Duskendale, when Lord Denys
Darklyn, in a bid to gain more autonomy for his territory, stopped paying the taxes, asking
that the King come to Duskendale to discuss the matter in person. Although Tywin strongly
suggested that the King refuse, Aerys accepted and fell right into a trap, seeing him captured
and his men killed. Tywin was then left to deal with the rebellion
and so mobilized the royal army, laying siege to the town. However the army could not attack
for fear that the King would be executed. And so it was that Ser Barristan Dondarrion
of the Kingsguard mounted a rescue mission on his own, climbing the walls of the city,
creeping through the streets and infiltrating the rebel fortress, then finding and freeing
the king, making a mad escape through the front gates on stolen horses, killing any
and all who tried to stop them. Ser Beric earned a place in the songs for
his heroic actions, however many years later the man would reflect upon his deeds, believing
that perhaps it would have been better to let the King die in his cell.
For King Aerys was no longer the handsome, charismatic man of his youth, after so many
personal tragedies, years of court intrigue and now his time as a prisoner of war, Aerys
was slipping into an ever worsening insanity, that would see him nicknamed The Mad King.
He began seeing plots and schemes around every corner, refusing to leave the Red Keep for
years, and ordering that no one could approach him with a blade, save for the Kingsguard,
which meant he was unable to cut his hair or trim his nails.
He was also now convinced his former friend Tywin Lannister and eldest son Rhaegar were
conspiring against him, and had wanted him to die in Duskendale, so they might rule the
seven kingdoms in his place. Needing new allies, he sent word to the Stormlands,
summoning his childhood friend Lord Steffon Baratheon to King’s Landing, naming him
to the small council. Aerys then sent Steffon to Volantis on a mission
to find a worthy bride for his son Rhaegar. However the mission ended in failure, with
Steffon’s ship destroyed during a storm, killing the noble lord as he returned to Storm’s
End. The Mad King interpreted the death of his
last true friend as an elaborate plot to kill the only man he could trust, believing Tywin
had conspired to murder the Lord of the Stormlands, knowing that the King planned to name Steffon
as his hand when he returned from his mission. His paranoia grew so deep that he even feared
ordering Tywin’s death, believing that if he did so, Tywin or else his supporters would
have him assassinated in reprisal. And so the King summoned a foreigner from across
the sea named Varys, who had earned a great reputation as a spymaster, believing that
because he was not a native Westerosi, he had no relevant loyalties, and so could be
trusted to a reasonable extent. He then arranged a marriage with Doran Martell’s
daughter Elia and his son Rhaegar, creating an alliance with Dorne to ensure they continued
supporting Targaryen rule. The King was now becoming increasingly hostile
and violent within the Red Keep, obsessed with Wildfire and burning his enemies alive,
even befriending pyromancers and filling his court with men of the Alchemist’s guild.
Aerys was even known to become sexually aroused after watching people burn, immediately finding
and brutalizing his wife after an execution. In continuing to insult House Lannister, he
named Tywin’s eldest son Jaime to the Kingsguard, thereby robbing House Lannister of its heir
and publically embarrassing Tywin by having his dwarf son Tyrion as the potential heir
to the ancient fortress of Casterly Rock. Having had enough of the King’s games, Tywin
resigned his position as Hand of the King, and was replaced by Lord Owen Merryweather,
a flatterer and ally of the King. Yet without Tywin’s wisdom and abilities, the Kingdom
fell to disrepair with many Lords growing angry and rebellious against the King. Some
now seriously considered replacing him with his son Rhaegar, who had proven a strong,
smart and brave man, a Targaryen who might unify the Kingdom behind his leadership.
As a result the Kingdom and Royal court became divided, with those indebted to the King remaining
his staunch advocates, while others joined Rhaegar’s faction, eager for reform.
With so many plots and conspiracies in the air, some have come to believe that Prince
Rhaegar indeed was planning to move against his father, by sending his men to speak to
Lord Whent of Harrenhal, possibly convincing him to hold a great Tournament, which would
serve as a distraction, so Rhaegar might secretly meet with the Lords of the 7 kingdoms and
conspire against the King. Varys the Spider then learned of these intrigues,
informing Aerys who decided to leave the Red Keep for the first time in 4 years, attending
the Tournament and disrupting Rhaegar’s potential plans.
However by this point the King had physically deteriorated into a pale, decrepit old man,
leaving a terrible impression with his subjects who were seeing the King for the first time
in years. Yet despite all of the Mad King’s mistakes
and growing insanity, it would not be Aerys who lit the spark which doomed the Kingdom
to civil war. That misdeed instead fell to his son Rhaegar, who became Champion at the
Tourney, then shocking those in attendance by naming Lord Robert Baratheon’s betrothed
Lyanna Stark as the Queen of Love and Beauty, ignoring his own wife Elia Martell, thereby
insulting House Baratheon, Stark and Martell all in a single action.
Rhaegar and Lyanna would then disappear together, leaving most to believe he had kidnapped her
and was raping her in the south. Outraged by the action, Lyanna’s brother
Brandon Stark, heir to Winterfell rode to King’s Landing demanding that Rhaegar face
him and answer for his crimes, but the Royal prince was not there, instead finding the
Mad King who had him arrested, summoning his father Rickon to court so he might pay for
his sons freedom. But when the Lord of Winterfell arrived in the capital he was arrested and
both father and son were tortured and killed. Houses Baratheon, Stark, Arryn and later Tully
would then rise up in rebellion, raising their armies and plunging the continent into war.
The Rebels won a number of early victories, leading the King to dismiss Lord Merryweather
as Hand of the King, replacing him with Lord Jon Connington. The new hand then led an army
against the rebels but was defeated and exiled across the sea for his failure.
The King then named his trusted adviser Qarlton Chelsted as Hand but it would not do much
good as steadily over the course of the war the loyalists forces were being pushed back
making a rebel victory seem more and more possible. Refusing to allow his city to fall
to a usurper, Aerys consulted with Rossart, Grand Master of the Alchemist’s guild, and
together they planted wildfire underneath King’s Landing, ready to light the city
on fire, leaving nothing but ash for the rebel forces.
When the Hand of the King learned of the King’s horrifying plan, he openly objected, even
tossing his chain of office to the ground, resigning his position in protest. But the
King, now mad beyond reason, had his former adviser burned alive, then naming the pyromancer
Rossart as his new Hand. The King also sent his son Viserys, and pregnant
wife Rhaella away to Dragonstone for their safety but kept Rhaegar’s wife Elia and
her children in the capital, to serve as hostages to ensure Dorne’s continued support in the
war. But after the Battle of the Trident, and the
death of Prince Rhaegar, the defeat of House Targaryen seemed inevitable, and so Tywin
Lannister, who had remained neutral for much of the war, arrived at the gates of King’s
Landing, announcing that he had brought his army to defend his old friend the King. Although
Varys advised against letting them through the gates, proclaiming it a likely trap, Grand
Maester Pycelle advocated in favor of Tywin Lannister, stating that the man could be trusted.
Aerys then sided with Pycell, allowing the Westerland army into his city, which then
turned against him, sacking King’s Landing and murdering Princess Elia and Rhaegar’s
children. The King had taken one final gamble which
had utterly failed, and so prepared to enact his final revenge, demanding that the city
be burned, killing all within its walls. But Ser Jaime Lannister of the Kingsguard, would
not allow such a crime to occur, breaking his sworn oaths, and killing the King* along
with his Hand Rossart, to ensure the order never left the Throne Room.
With King Aerys II defeated, Robert Baratheon ascended to the throne, claiming legitimacy
through his Grandmother Rhaelle Targaryen and rewarded the Lannisters for their contribution
to his victory by marrying Tywin’s daughter Cersei, making her Queen of the Seven Kingdoms.
Meanwhile with the loyalist Targaryen forces defeated. The last of the Mad King’s children
in young Viserys and the newly born Daenerys Targaryen, were smuggled across the sea to
Essos by Ser Willem Darry, where they would spend years attempting to gather support to
retake the Seven Kingdoms, determined to reclaim the Throne of their father.
Although the Mad King’s plan to burn King’s Landing was foiled by Ser Jaime Lannister,
some have recently come to suggest that the Wildfire he placed beneath the city was never
removed, and may one day be discovered by Cersei Lannister, undergoing her own descent
into madness, and who may order her adviser Qyburn to ignite the substance, burning the
city or a portion of the city to the ground, in a final act of defiance against her enemies
in the Sparrow Movement, House Tyrell and the Royal Court.