How much of Aegon's Conquest will the first Game of Thrones movie cover?

It's official: Warner Bros. is developing a movie about Aegon the Conqueror, the first Targaryen ruler of Westeros who forged the Iron Throne and united the Seven Kingdoms under one banner. Aegon's Conquest is one of the cornerstone events of George R.R. Martin's fantasy world, so much so that the in-world timeline is tracked by the years Before the Conquest (BC) or After the Conquest (AC). To see Aegon I Targaryen, his sister-wives Rhaenys and Visenya, and their three mighty dragons Balerion, Meraxes, and Vhagar on the big screen is going to be thrilling.

It's still early days for the film, currently titled Game of Thrones: Aegon's Conquest. We know that the film was written by Beau Willimon, who served as the showrunner of House of Cards for Netflix and wrote for Lucasfilm's Andor. We know the working title, and we know it will premiere in 2027 or later. (I'd guess later, considering House of the Dragon ends in 2028.) And that's about it.

That means that there are far more questions than answers for Aegon's Conquest. One that I keep mulling is exactly how much of Aegon's story this film will cover. To discuss it we need to dig into MAJOR SPOILERS from George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood.

What wil the Aegon's Conquest movie be about?

Fire & Blood spans the first half of the Targaryen dynasty, from Aegon's landing in Westeros to the brutal civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons, which is currently being adapted in House of the Dragon. Aegon's story only spans the first three chapters of Fire & Blood, with the fourth dedicated to the matter of his succession. The first chapter is about Aegon's Conquest, and it contains most of the big events that the movie will almost certainly have to include, such as the incineration of Harrenhal, the Field of Fire, the forging of the Iron Throne, and the surrender of Torrhen Stark, the last King in the North who bent the knee. This chapter ends with Aegon being crowned as King of the Seven Kingdoms.

However, that's far from the end of the drama for King Aegon and his sisters. Aegon ruled for 37 years, and for the first 17 of those years he was busy putting down one rebellion or another across the realm. The second chapter of Fire & Blood covers these clashes, known as "the Dragon's Wars," which preceded the final two peaceful decades of Aegon's rule, or "the Dragon's Peace."

It's during these wars that the most dramatic, visceral twist of Aegon's life happens, and I can't imagine the movie not including it. During the initial Conquest, Dorne was the only region of Westeros to resist Aegon and his sisters. Queen Rhaenys was tasked with conquering Dorne, but the Dornish constantly hid from her, so that no matter how she scoured the desert or razed their cities, the people themselves eluded her. It culminated in a face-to-face meeting between Rhaenys and Meria Martell, known as the Yellow Toad of Dorne. Meria refused to ever bend the knee, and Rhaenys promised she and Aegon would return with fire and blood.

True to her word, Rhaenys does eventually head back to Dorne during the Dragon's Wars to finish the job. Numerous clashes with the Dornish follow, with Aegon and his sisters burning their cities while the Dornish lead daring invasions into Westeros in answer. During these wars, Queen Rhaenys' dragon Meraxes is killed at the castle of Hellholt when a scorpion bolt takes it in the eye. Martin leaves the exact details of Rhaenys' demise ambiguous, but not her fate: she dies as a result of Meraxes' fall, 10 years after Aegon is crowned king.

If Aegon's story can be said to have a true "Game of Thrones moment," a turn that makes you feel no one is safe and the story can veer unexpectedly at any moment, the death of Rhaenys Targaryen and Meraxes is it. I can't imagine any adaptation of Aegon's Conquest excluding this event, even if it does happen a decade into Aegon's reign rather than during the initial conquering of Westeros.

Even if Game of Thrones: Aegon's Conquest only covers the Conquest itself and doesn't get to Rhaenys' fateful fall, I could see the studio shuffling things around to include it. Or, doing more than one movie in order to adapt the events of the wars that span those 17 years after Aegon is first crowned king at the Starry Sept in Oldtown.

How much will Aegon's Conquest tie into House of the Dragon?

So to sum up, I'm expecting that we'll see Aegon and his sisters make landfall in Westeros, wage the initial Conquest, build the Iron Throne, and ultimately, be crowned ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. Whether the film ends there or it shuffles events around in order to include Rhaenys' end is an open question for now, but if the movie is a success I wouldn't be surprised to see a sequel.

The prospect of multiple films raises other questions, however. Lost in all this news is the fact that Game of Thrones: Aegon's Conquest will be the first time a studio other than HBO handles the franchise, since it's being produced by Warner Bros. We know that HBO was making its own Aegon's Conquest TV series written by The Batman Part II scribe Mattson Tomlin, but now that the movie is officially announced it sounds like that other version of Aegon's story may be dead in the water.

That is, unless Warner Bros. and HBO are going to pull off something truly wild, like kick off Aegon's Conquest with an epic, self-contained movie, and then depict the dramatic decades of his rule with a prestige television show. Rhaenys' death is far from the only important event that happens to Aegon during those years; there are assassination attempts, shifting political alliances, the birth of his heirs, the forming of the Kingsguard and more. Aegon's actual rule spans more pages of Fire & Blood than the Conquest itself. It would make good fodder for either the big or small screen.

Of course, expecting audiences to jump between mediums is a large ask, so Warner Bros. and HBO may not be daring enough to attempt it. And really, that might be for the best; if Aegon's Conquest is a success at the movies, then it might behoove the studio to keep trying to capitalize on it in the way that it worked, rather than attempt to lure people into an HBO subscription to see the rest of the story.

Either way, I do expect that we'll see some important ties between Aegon's Conquest and HBO's Westeros shows, especially House of the Dragon, which introduced the idea that Aegon only launched his Conquest because he had a prophetic dream about the looming White Walker apocalypse that happens during Thrones. Now that that dream is on the board, the movie either needs to include it to keep cohesion with the HBO universe, something that would no doubt be desirable, or jettison it entirely and carve this out as a truly separate adaptation of Westeros. I'd be shocked if they chose the latter.

There's another big element Aegon's Conquest has in common with House of the Dragon: Vhagar, the massive dragon flown by Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell). During the Conquest, Vhagar is the mount of Aegon's more martial sister-wife, Visenya. House of the Dragon created a distinctive look for Vhagar, and the hoary old dragon has easily become the most intimidating beast the franchise has ever seen. We'll be seeing a version of Vhagar that's around 120 years younger in the new film, but it would be very strange if it didn't keep the overall look of the dragon from the HBO series.

Ultimately, there's still a lot we need to learn about Aegon's Conquest. But given its long lead time, I expect that it'll be quite a while before these details and more are set in stone. For now, it's just exciting to know that we'll see this iconic part of Westeros' history play out on the big screen, complete with the three largest dragons to ever rule the skies of the Seven Kingdoms.

We'll have our ear to the ground for more updates about Game of Thrones: Aegon's Conquest.

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