On Dragonstone the Targaryens, last of the Valyrian ruling families, became a major power
in the narrow sea, controlling trade with the threat of dragonfire until 2BC, when Aegon
Targaryen atop his dragon Balerion, and his sister-wives, Visenya on Vhagar and Rhaenys
on Meraxes invaded the continent.
By this time the Westeros was divided into seven kingdoms, known as the Kingdom of the
North, Kingdom of the Mountain and vale, Kingdom of the Isles and Rivers, Kingdom of the Rock,
Kingdom of the Reach, Kingdom of the Storm and Dorne.
Defeating nearly every kingdom Aegon was crown King of Westeros and forged the Iron Throne
from the swords of his defeated enemies.
In the North, they remained under House Stark, as did the Vale under House Arryn, and the
Westerlands under House Lannister, while House Hoare of the Kingdom of Isles and Rivers was
destroyed, with their territory split into the Iron Islands ruled by House Greyjoy, the
Riverlands ruled by House Tully, and the crownlands ruled by the king from the capital of King’s
Landing.
Further south, the Targaryens destroyed House Gardener and so left the Reach under House
Tyrell, while House Durrandon was defeated in the Stormlands, but lived on through their
successors, as the new lord of the territory Orys Baratheon, best friend and rumoured half
brother of King Aegon, married the daughter of the fallen Durrandon king, in addition
to adopting their sigil and house words.
Yet while these mighty realms fell, the mixed Rhoynar-Andal population of Dorne resisted
under House Martell, fighting a brutal guerrilla war over the first decade of Aegon’s rule,
ultimately ending with the conqueror admitting defeat and signing a peace treaty.
Over the next three centuries, House Targaryen ruled the continent of Westeros with some
of their kings ruling as absolute monarchs through the overwhelming might of their dragons.
Though these monarchs varied in wisdom and aptitude for the position, one of the most
notable of Aegon’s descendants was King Jaehaerys the Conciliator who ended two civil
wars to preside over a golden age of peace and prosperity.
Unfortunately his descendants squandered these accomplishments and the realm was torn apart
in the Dance of the Dragons civil war, fought from 129 to 131 AC, a viscous conflict between
the chosen heir Rhaenyra Targaryen, and her younger brother Aegon, who claimed the crown
against his father’s wishes but was backed by tradition and precedent which favoured
male heirs.
This conflict not only killed thousands but also wiped out nearly all the dragons, leading
to their eventual extinction and a significant loss in power and prestige for House Targaryen.
Even so, the descendants of Valyria continued to rule for many years, with Daeron the Good
standing out as another exceptional king, able to bring Dorne into the realm through
a marriage alliance, and win a civil war against his half brother Daemon Blackfyre.
For many of these years, Daeron the Good was aided by his loyal half brother Brynden Rivers,
nicknamed Bloodraven, serving as Hand of the King, the second most powerful position in
the realm, but he eventually ended up as lord Commander of the Nights Watch until he disappeared
during a ranging beyond the wall.
Over the next few decades, House Targaryen continued to defend their throne against House
Blackfyre, but won all five wars until their enemies were seemingly destroyed, though in
truth they survived through the female line.
The last great Targaryen King to rule, Aegon the V had a fascinating life, as he was so
far down the line of succession no one expected him to take the throne, and so was allowed
more freedom in his youth, serving as a squire to the Hedge Knight Ser Duncan the Tall.
As a result of travelling across the continent and getting to know the small folk, he became
their advocate as King, earning love from the commoners and hatred from the nobility
threatened by his reforms.
Yet Aegon V’s reign was cut short when he died in a failed attempt to hatch dragon eggs
causing a terrible fire which killed the king and many others.
Yet while these notable kings performed great deeds worthy of praise, their dynasty ultimately
met it’s end under Mad King Aerys II, a cruel, incompetent monarch who’s son and
heir Rhaegar Targaryen disappeared with Lyanna Stark, a daughter of House Stark betrothed
to Lord Robert Baratheon of the Stormlands.
Believing her kidnapped, House Barartheon of the Stormlands allied with House Stark
of the North, House Arryn of the Vale and House Tully of the Riverlands to fight a rebellion
which defeated and deposed House Targaryen.
After the death of Rhaegar in combat and the Aerys II by his Kingsguard Ser Jaime Lannister,
Robert Baratheon was crowned King of Westeros, presiding over 15 years of relative peace
through his personal ferocity as a warrior in addition to the strength of his alliances.
Unfortunately for the Starks, Lyanna died in Dorne, while the Targaryens were almost
entirely wiped out, save for young Viserys and Daenerys Targaryen, the youngest children
of the Mad King who escaped to Essos.
Years of poverty and struggle turned Viserys into a foolish, impulsive young man, but he
never gave up the goal of retaking the Iron Throne, finally finding an opportunity when
his ally Ilyrio Mopatis of Pentos arranged for his sister Daenerys to marry Khal Drogo,
a powerful Dothraki Horselord they hoped would invade Westeros for the Targaryens.
Meanwhile, in the far north of Westeros, White Walkers were spotted for the first time in
thousands of years.
It was at this point the A Song of Ice and Fire series began in 297 AC.
After years of peace, the realm was torn apart when political scheming and greedy ambition
led to the assassination of the Hand of the King Jon Arryn followed by the death of King
Robert Baratheon and execution of Lord Eddard Stark, the three longtime friends whose alliance
maintained stability in the seven kingdoms.
Yet now with all three gone, chaos erupted, allowing House Lannister of the Westerlands
direct influence over the Iron Throne through Joffrey Baratheon, the eldest son and heir
of Robert Baratheon and his wife Cersei Lannister, though in reality all three of their children
were fathered by Jaime Lannister, the queen’s twin brother and lover.
As both Jon Arryn and Eddard Stark uncovered this secret before their deaths, word had
spread allowing for various claimants to rise like King Stannis Baratheon, Robert’s eldest
brother and the Lord of Dragonstone, who by tradition was the one true heir to the iron
throne.
Yet his younger sibling Renly also put forth a claim, as he had the backing of the Stormlands
which he ruled and the reach through his allies in House Tyrell.
Seeing the realm divided and weak, The Iron Islands declared independence under King Balon
Greyjoy, while King Rob Stark of the North and Riverlands, declared independence as well,
gathering armies to wage war against the Lannisters in retaliation for the execution of the Robb’s
father Eddard Stark.
The Vale meanwhile remained neutral, as did southern Dorne.
Known as the War of the Five Kings, this conflict devastated Westeros and killed thousands during
a time when the White Walker threat grew larger in the north, with the pleas and warnings
of the Night’s Watch largely ignored.
In the east, Viserys Targaryen’s was killed but his Daenerys proved shrewd and fearsome,
undergoing a great journey and metamorphosis, from the property of her brother, to the Khaleesi
wife of a great Khal.
Yet it was only after the death of her husband that her destiny truly revealed itself, when
she accidentally performed a magic ritual allowing three dragon eggs to hatch, thereby
becoming the Mother of dragons.
With Viserion, Rhaegal and Drogon by her side, Daenerys made her way to Slaver’s Bay where
she purchased an army of Unsullied Slave soldiers, eunuchs who drank an elixir which lessened
pain and trained their whole lives for combat.
Knowing what it was to be a slave, Daenerys liberated her army and asked them to fight
as freedmen, launching a campaign to end slavery in the region, conquering Astapor, Yunkai
and Meereen where she ruled as Queen.
Yet despite her best intentions, both Yunkai and Astapor rebelled and gathered a great
alliance to wage war against the queen.
Back in Westeros, as the was progressed nearly every claimant king was killed, with Renly
defeated by Stannis who took the Stormlands, while the reach went to the Lannisters in
the capital, though they lost volatile king joffrey to assassination, allowing for the
succession of his younger brother Tommen.
In the Iron Islands Balon fell from a bridge, likely assassinated by his younger brother
Euron Greyjoy who succeeded as King, before leading a fleet east to marry and ally with
Daenerys Targaryen.
Though King Robb Stark never lost a battle, he ultimately made political mistake which
led to his assassination and betrayal by Houses Frey and Bolton, which took power in the Riverlands
and North under the Lannisters in the capital.
With enemy kings falling and the power of House Lannister and Tyrell behind him, Tommen
Baratheon had great potential as king, yet after the murder of his grandfather Tywin
Lannister and great uncle Kevan Lannister, the young monarch lost his most cunning and
wise advisors, greatly weakening his chances of bringing stability to the realm.
King Stannis meanwhile, initially won the stormlands with the aid of the Red Priestess
Melisandre, a sorceress follower of R’hllor from Asshai who believed Stannis was Azor
Ahai reborn.
Yet he steadily lost power until making the drastic decision to retreat with his army
to the Northern wall, where they aided the Night’s Watch against a massive army of
Wildlings, invading the south to escape the white walkers.
Establishing a foothold at the wall, Stannis then embarked on a campaign to conquer the
North, and take back Winterfell from House Bolton.
By 300 AC and the End of book 5 in the A Song of Ice Fire Series, the remaining Kings vying
for the Iron Throne, also faced several outside powers threatening the realm, not only from
Daenerys Targaryen in Slaver’s Bay, but also from young Aegon Targaryen, yet another
possible candidate, supported by Ilyrio Mopatis of Pentos, the mercenary Golden Company and
the former Westerosi spymaster Varys, who claimed he was the son of Rhaegar Targaryen
and his wife Elia Martell, that was supposedly killed during Robert’s Rebellion, but was
actually smuggled away to Essos.
Another threat to the realm came from the brilliant strategist Petyr Baelish, aka Littlefinger,
who orchestrated many of the most consequential events of the war, in order to facilitate
his own rise to power, marrying and then killing Lady Lysa Arryn so he could have direct influence
over her son Lord Robert Arryn, thereby controlling the entire Vale, while still possessing further
plans to expand his power.
Then there were two branches of House Martell in Dorne, who stayed out of the conflict thus
far, while making their own plans in secret, with the Prince’s faction seeking a marriage
alliance with Daenerys Targaryen, while the Sand Snake nieces of the Prince wanted outright
war against the Lannisters.
Finally, there was Bran Stark, a younger child of Eddard Stark, who travelled north with
a group of companions following prophetic dreams, until reaching the cave of the three
eyed crow, where some surviving children of the forest lived with Brynden Rivers, the
brother of King Daeron the Good, who survived the long years since his disappearance and
was now a decrepit old man whose body was intertwined with a weirwood tree.
Yet he possessed great magical powers teaching Bran greenseeing and skinchanging, so he could
see the past and present through the eyes of heart trees across the continent, as well
as enter the minds of humans and animals.
Bran was training to become the new three eyed crow, as there was a larger destiny he
must fulfill.