10 Game of Thrones dads who give Father’s Day a bad name

Aerys Targaryen

Daenerys Targaryen never met her father, Aerys “the Mad King” Targaryen. It’s just as well. The man lived up to his moniker.

Years before Daenerys was born on the island fastness of Dragonstone, King Aerys descended into madness. He became obsessed with fire, even developing a sexual fetish for it. It became his habit to rape his wife Rhaella after burning prisoners to death.

But even before that, Aerys was abusive toward his family. Rhaella suffered multiple miscarriages and stillbirths. Rather than comfort her, Aerys suspected her of infidelity, confined her to Maegor’s Holdfast, and ordered two septas to share her bed every night, to ensure she didn’t stray. Rhaella shielded her second son, Viserys, from the worst of the Mad King’s excesses, although we see later that Viserys had much of Aerys’ cruelty in him. Happily, Daenerys didn’t have to suffer Aerys at all. But Dany didn’t get to have a relationship with her mother, either, as Rhaella died giving birth to her.

Mental illness is a horrible thing. Once the madness set in, Aerys had no business being a father, husband or king. Really, he didn’t have much business doing anything but being confined to a padded cell and fed soup. But this is Westeros, so Aerys was allowed to carry on his terrible behavior with impunity right up until the moment Jaime Lannister shoved a sword through his back. Daenerys may never have met her dad, but she knows better than to follow any of the examples he set.