One of the best things about Game of Thrones was that there was always a ton going on under the surface. Take the journey of Daenerys Targaryen, who went from waifish chess piece to would-be conqueror of the Seven Kingdoms. Her story is plenty fascinating on its own, but it’s backed up by centuries of fake history George R.R. Martin dreamed up for his A Song of Ice and Fire series; go back in time and you can plenty of a similarities (and differences) between Daenerys and some of her many forebears, who ruled Westeros for a long time before she and her brother Viserys were exiled across the Narrow Sea.
HBO will be exploring that history in House of the Dragon, a new prequel show all about a brutal Targaryen civil war that tore the realm apart over 100 years before the events of the story we know. We’re about to be introduced to a whole new crop of characters, many of them Targaryens. There’s Rhaenyra Targaryen and Aegon II Targaryen, half-siblings who fight for the Iron Throne. There’s the unpredictable Daemon Targaryen, who fights his nephew Aemond Targaryen on dragonback in one of the war’s most exciting chapters. There’s Rhaenys Targaryen, who the smallfolk called the Queen Who Never Was, and so on.
It’s a lot to remember. Thankfully, fans like Redditor MediocreTiana are here to help. They’ve brought us a very cool illustrated Targaryen family tree that takes us from Aegon I Targaryen’s initial conquest of Westeros all the way through Robert’s Rebellion, with the Dance of Dragons taking up a big chunk of the middle. Take a look.
Game of Thrones family tree
And there are other family trees, like this official one from the German release of Fire & Blood, the Targaryen history book Martin published in 2018:
"(Spoilers Published) Translated Targaryen Family Tree (from German Fire and Blood release) from asoiaf"
Game of Thrones was famous for its huge cast, with many fans having trouble keeping track of all the characters even late into its run. When House of the Dragon airs, I have a feeling we’ll be thankful for charts like these.
And House of the Dragon is on its way. HBO recently dropped a teaser trailer showing off some of these Targaryens of yore:
The trailer gives us glimpses of Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) and young Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock), uncle and niece (and later husband and wife, because that’s how this twisted family does). We also see Paddy Considine as King Viserys I Targaryen sitting on the Iron Throne. He’s Daemon’s older brother and Rhaenyra’s father.
Of course, Targaryens aren’t the only characters in this story. We also see Steve Toussaint as Corlys Velaryon, the leader of a powerful house of the time. In one shot we get a glimpse of his wife Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) and son Laenor Velaryon (Theo Nate), who gets married to Rhaenyra.
And that’s just the beginning of the complicated family dynamic at play. House of the Dragon will premiere on HBO and HBO Max in 2022.
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