After nearly 300 years of Targaryen rule, the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros suffered under
the reign Aerys II, a cruel, mad king, stirring the people of his realm to anger and violence
with his terrible leadership.
Although Aerys had many years of prosperous rule, those were largely due to his old friend
Tywin Lannister, who governed as Hand of the King.
Yet as Aerys succumbed to his madness in later years, their friendship suffered greatly and
Tywin resigned his position, leaving the realm to the lunatic whims of the unbalanced King.
Yet the first tear in what would ultimately rip apart the kingdom, came not from Aerys,
but from his son, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen.
During a Tournament, held by Lord Whent of Harrenhal, Prince Rhaegar won the Joust and
was named Champion.
As was tradition, it was his duty to name a woman Queen of Love and Beauty, presenting
her with a crown of blue winter roses.
Everyone expected Rhaegar to name his wife, Lady Elia Martell of Dorne.
Yet he did not.
Instead moving past his wife to crown Lyanna Stark, the bethrothed of Lord Robert Baratheon.
This was later described as the moment “when all the smiles died”.
Rhaegar’s infatuation with Lyanna eventually resulted in what many believed was her abduction,
an act which outraged House Stark and Baratheon.
Lyanna’s older brother Brandon Stark rode at once for the Red Keep, where he stood outside
the walls, screaming for Rhaegar to come out and face him.
However Rhaegar was not present at the time and so King Aerys had Brandon and his companions
arrested.
When Brandon and Lyanna’s father, Lord Rickard Stark travelled south to answer the charges
against his son, he demanded a trial by combat, the right of every noble lord.
Aerys granted him the right but named fire as the Champion of House Targaryen.
Rickard, was then tied the rafters inside his armor, and a fire was lit underneath.
Brandon Stark was present, with a noose around his neck, attached to the wall.
A sword was placed just outside his reach and he strangled himself trying to get the
sword and save his father was being roasted alive.
After their execution, the Mad King sent word to Lord Jon Arryn of the Vale, demanding the
execution of Rickard Stark’s second son, Eddard Stark and Lyanna’s betrothed Robert
Baratheon.
Lord Arryn however, refused to betray the men he’d raised as foster sons, and in response
the three lords raised their banners in Rebellion.
As the armies of the Vale rose to answer Lord Arryn’s call to war, some in the territory
chose to side with the Taragaryen king, and so Marq Grafton went about gathering Loyalist
supporters in Gulltown.
In response, Lord Arryn marched his army and laid siege to Gulltown, with Robert Baratheon
leading the charge over its walls, and slaying Marq Grafton in the fighting.
After the defeat of the Royalists in the Vale, Robert Baratheon went South to gather his
forces in the Stormlands, but once again the territory was split, with several Lords siding
with the Targaryens and gathering their armies at Summerhall.
Yet they were not prepared to deal with the strength and fury of the Lord of the Stormlands,
who marched his forces to Summerhall, winning 3 battles in a single day, and eliminating
the threat within his realm, by capturing many of the Lords who fought against him,
and winning them over to his cause.
Robert then led a host out of the Stormlands, to face the Loyalist Lord Randyll Tarley at
the Battle of Ashford, where Robert was defeated for the first time in the war, forced to retreat
and try to join the remnants of his army with his allies in the North.
After the battle, the armies of the Reach laid Siege to Storm’s End which was being
held by Robert’s brother Stannis Baratheon, who despite the lack of food and supplies,
refused to surrender.
Only surviving the siege because of food smuggled into the castle by a man named Davos Seaworth.
Robert Baratheon, meanwhile was being chased by Royalist forces as he fled North, forced
to seek refuge in the town of Stoney Sept, where the people were loyal to his cause protected
him from those in pursuit.
In King’s Landing, Aerys II grew increasingly worried and soon came to realize Robert Baratheon
was a serious threat.
Rallying the Crownlands, the Reach and Dorne to his side, the Westerlands and Iron Islands
chose to remain neutral for most of the war.
After their losses in the early part of the war, Hand of the King Owen Merrywether was
blamed, and in punishment was stripped of his lands and titles, replaced in his position
by Jon Connington, a friend of Rhaegar and Lord of Griffin’s Roost.
And so it was Jon Connington who led an army to the Stoney Sept and searched for Robert
Baratheron, going from House to House, using threats, taking hostages and offering great
rewards for information about his whereabouts.
Yet still the people of the town continued protecting him and he was not discovered.
Eventually, Robert’s friends Jon Arryn, Eddard Stark and their newest ally Lord Hoster
Tully of the Riverlands, marched on the small town and fought the royalist forces in the
Battle of the Bells.
When Robert saw that his allies were engaging the enemy, he charged out of the Brothel where
he’d been hiding and joined in the fight, nearly killing Jon Connington who was defeated
and forced into retreat.
The Mad King grew suspicious of the Hand of the King after this loss, and stripped Lord
Connington of his titles, exiling him to Essos and replacing him with Lord Qarlton Chelsted.
Further north, Lord Eddard Stark and Lord Jon Arryn further cemented their alliance
with the Riverlands though Eddard’s marriage to Hoster Tully’s eldest daughter Catelyn,
while Jon Arryn married the younger daughter Lyssa.
The decisive battle of the war was then fought on the river trident, where Prince Rhaegar
Targaryen, led his army against the rebels.
Fighting a desperate battle, Robert and Rhaegar finally met, and clashed in single combat.
Amidst the chaos of battle Robert raised his mighty war hammer and struck down his enemy,
crushing Rhaegar’s chest and causing the rubies inlaid upon his armor to scatter into
the river, thereafter known as the Ruby Ford.
With their victory at the Trident, the war was all but won for the Rebels, and so Lord
Quellon of the Iron Islands was convinced by his sons to strike out in support of Robert
and his allies.
However Lord Quellon feared sailing with his full strength, since that would leave the
Iron Islands vulnerable to attack by the Westerlands, who had not yet to choose a side in the war.
And so Lord Quellon set sail with a small force of 50 longships to attack the reach,
and died in the Battle at the Mander, causing his fleet to return home with little accomplished.
In the Westerlands, Lord Tywin who until this point had kept House Lannister out of the
war, now marched his army to King’s Landing, claiming to have arrived in defence of the
King.
Although Varys the Spider tried to warn Aerys not to open the city gates, Grand Maester
Pycelle was able to convince the King that Tywin was loyal.
However Lord Tywin had no intention of joining a losing cause, and so once within the wall
he ordered the city to be sacked, killing or capturing any Targaryen loyalists they
found.
Among those killed was Rhaegar’s wife Elia Martell and her children Rhaenys and Aegon.
Within the Red Keep, Jaimie Lannister of the kingsguard, learned that the Mad King was
planning to destroy King’s Landing by igniting jars of wildfire placed strategically beneath
the city.
When the Hand of the King Qarlton Chelsted learned of this terrible plot, he tried to
stop it and even resigned his position, only for the King to have him burned alive with
wildfire, then naming the pyromance Rossart as his new Hand of the King.
Now that Jaime learned the truth, he too felt he must act and so betrayed his oath, slicing
the throat of the mad king, and ending his reign of terror.
Although the Lannisters had the Capital, the rebel armies of Robert and his allies soon
arrived, and took command of the city, proclaiming Robert Baratheon as the new King of Westeros.
He claimed his legitimacy through his grandmother Rhaelle Targaryen youngest daughter of King
Aegon V. Although this minor connection to Targaryen blood, was the official reason given
for his ascension to the throne, in truth Robert won the crown through conquest and
kept the realm together through strength of arms and strategic alliances such as his marriage
to Lord Tywin’s daughter Cersei Lannister.
Yet not all were happy with the way the war was ending, as Eddard Stark spoke out harshly
against the murder of the Targaryen children.
Getting into a heated argument with his friend Robert, Eddard left the capital in anger and
marched with an army south to break the Siege of Storm’s End.
Stannis Baratheon was then ordered to raise a fleet and capture Dragonstone.
Although the king and most of the royal family was killed, a pregnant Queen Rhaella escaped
to the nearby island along with her son Viserys.
Unfortunately the Queen died shortly after giving birth to a baby girl during a storm.
The garrison at Dragonstone then made plans to save themselves by giving up Viserys and
his baby sister Daenerys Stormborn to the new king of westeros, but the Targaryen loyalist
Ser Willem Darry would not allow it and smuggled them off the island, taking them to live as
exiles in Braavos.
After freeing Storm’s End, Lord Eddard Stark led a small party of 6 companions south to
the Tower of Joy in Dorne where his sister Lyanna Stark was being held.
Guarded by Ser Arthur Dayne, Ser Oswell Whent and Lord Commander Gerold Hightower of the
Kingsguard, the Northmen engaged them in a viscious battle that ended in the death of
everyone except Eddard Stark and his companion Howland Reed.
Although victorious, Lord Stark was too late to save his sisters life and she died in a
pool of her own blood.
Eddard arrived just in time to hear her final words, in which she asked him to make a secret
promise, which he agreed to keep and never revealed.
With the war over and the last of the Targaryen’s exiled across the sea.
Robert Baratheon was left as sole claimant to the iron throne and made peace with those
that fought against him, ruling for many as King of Westeros