House Targaryen ruled over Westeros for the best part of three centuries. They fundamentally shaped the seven kingdoms as we know them by the time of Game of Thrones, their rule defining so much of the realm’s traditions, borders, natures, and very existence. But 283 years is a very long time for one family to hold the reins. And many of them were far from perfect at doing so during that time.
Eighteen monarchs (17 kings and one queen) ruled in those years, and… well, let’s be honest, there were a lot of them who were in fact very bad for the realm. Civil wars, cruel leadership, absent leadership, paranoia, and madness—the Targaryen rule of Westeros is as defined by malady as it is success after Aegon’s conquest. So, as we prepare for House of the Dragon to return and give us some updates on what’s going on with at least a couple of the candidates for Worst Targaryen in season three, let’s take a chronological look back at the candidates for the most terrible buttcheeks to have warmed the Iron Throne.
Aenys I (37-42 AC)
Yes, almost immediately after Aegon the Conqueror things started going sideways for Targaryen kings. A frail man—it was widely believed at first that he was not the Conqueror’s true son, until he proved otherwise by bonding with the dragon Quicksilver—Aenys’ brief rule was guided by his own indecisiveness and cowardice, with multiple uprisings during his reign. He also saw an increased opposition with the Faith of the Seven for continuing Aegon’s practice of incest, eventually leading to a religious revolt that saw Aenys flee the capital for Dragonstone, where he fell ill and died.
Many people believed that Aenys’ brother, the strong warrior Maegor, would’ve proved a better king during his reign. Well, about that…
Maegor I (42-48 AC)
Maegor the Cruel’s reign is often considered one of the darkest periods of Westerosi history. Almost from the get-go, Maegor was deeply unpopular for his authoritarian bent, having usurped the Iron Throne from Aenys’ rightful heir, who would come to be known as Aegon the Uncrowned, and his defiance of the traditions of the realm. He was especially at odds with the Faith of the Seven, both for his unorthodox coronation and his desire to take multiple wives. This lead to the first Trial of Seven in Westeros’ history, in which Maegor brutally slaughtered his opponents in the Faith Militant, fell into a month-long coma, and then promptly awoke and burned down the Sept of Rememberance, the Faith Militant’s primary base of operations, from atop his dragon Balerion.
Maegor’s penchant for violence continued throughout his reign, killing his nephew Aegon when he rose in defiance of Maegor’s rule, and his unpopularity eventually lead the lords of Westeros to back Aenys’ last surviving son, Jaehaerys, to rule instead. Preparing to face a brutal war for control of the realm, Maegor was found murdered before things could get worse—saving the realm from tragedy and even setting the stage for the ascension of what would go on to be known as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, periods of Targaryen rule under Jaehaerys the Conciliator.
Aegon II (129 AC-131 AC)
The second Targaryen king of his vaunted name, Aegon’s rule will forever be remembered by the chaos caused by his ascension: the infamous Dance of the Dragons, when House Targaryen was split by civil war between the Greens, the faction that supported the belief that Viserys I had intended for his crown to go to his eldest son, and the Blacks, who supported the claim of Viserys’ eldest child and daughter, Rhaenyra—who he had named his heir despite the rules of the line of succession declaring the crown would never be passed on to a daughter.
Even without the Dance having terrifying impacts across Westeros, as Targaryen dragonfire wreaked havoc on battling forces on both sides, Aegon’s rule was widely unpopular. House of the Dragon hasn’t gotten there yet, but we know from George R.R. Martin’s source material that after Aegon returned to the capital following the death of Rhaenyra, the king—who had been horrifically wounded not once, but twice in the war, leaving him covered in burns and unable to walk—was fighting a losing battle against the remainder of his sister’s forces, an ineffective ruler until the Dance finally came to an end with his poisoning.
Rhaenyra Targaryen (129-130 AC)
Here’s another one House of the Dragon hasn’t gotten to yet. During the Dance, Rhaenyra does briefly ascend to the Iron Throne as her father Viserys I wished, taking King’s Landing and forcing her brother-king to flee. Although Rhaenyra was popular during the civil war, especially as Aegon II’s rule had proven so tumultuous thanks to his controversial succession, the hope that she would bring significant change to the smallfolk’s prospects with rule was quickly proven incorrect. Rhaenrya was extremely harsh to anyone she believed had supported, and continued to support, Aegon, executing hundreds with the Knights Inquisitor, and imposing harsh taxes after the Greens had taken much of King’s Landing’s wealth outside of the capital for safekeeping.
Rhaenyra’s reign ended after just six months, when tensions in the capital broke out into a full-scale riot, destroying the Dragonpit (killing several dragons, and Rhaenyra’s son Joffrey, in the process) and forcing her to flee to Dragonstone—and her eventual capture and death.
Aegon III (131-157 AC)
Aegon III took the throne at just the age of 10 in the wake of the Dance of the Dragons, and unsurprisingly, when your childhood is spent watching your family brutally kill each other and start the downfall of the age of dragons—and your reign literally sees the last of the Targaryen dragons die out—you’re not going to be a particularly jovial person or that interested in ruling the kingdom.
Aegon III’s reign was known as the reign of the Broken King—the first five years of his rule, before he came of age, saw various regents and hands attempting to bully the traumatized child for power, and even after he turned 16, he turned inward and melancholy, making him appear cold and distant in the eyes of his people.
Baelor I (161-171 AC)
It might be odd to have someone known as Baelor the Blessed on here—and after A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, we already know the handsome legacy that the next major Targaryen to take his name, Baelor Breakspear, had to live up to as heir apparent in his time. But while Baelor I was indeed a pious man, that was also part of the reason he wasn’t exactly beloved by all by the time his reign came to an end.
Although Baelor was already a devout follower of the Faith of the Seven when he took the throne at 17, many believe his increased piety was part of a mental affliction caused by having endured dangerous snake venom rescuing his cousin, Aemon the Dragonknight, from capture in Dorne shortly after his ascension. Much of Baelor’s reign was spent advancing the cause of the Faith, including the construction of the Great Sept in King’s Landing, earning him a great deal of favor among its followers, but this also led to a series of widely unpopular religious reforms, including an outright ban on prostitution, that proved divisive.
Baelor eventually fasted himself to death in an act of piety, attempting to absolve his sister (and former wife, who he had his marriage to annulled to take a vow of celibacy) for giving birth to a bastard son, Daemon, and refusing to name his father. That will become very important, as it set the stage for the brief reign of his uncle, Viserys II, paving the way for…
Aegon IV (172–184 AC)
Jeez, what is it with Westeros and bad Aegons? You know you’re on a generational streak when you’re so bad at being king that you end up being known as Aegon the Unworthy.
Aegon IV’s entire rule was marked by corruption and greed, and of all the Targaryens on here he’s up there with the worst of a bad bunch. It was widely believed that Aegon had his father, Viserys II, poisoned so he could take the Iron Throne sooner, and almost immediately he stacked his court with people willing to flatter and indulge his vices for any shred of power. He was an infamous philanderer, sleeping with dozens of women across the realm, and having at least 13 bastard children aside from his trueborn heir, Daeron, who frequently attempted to challenge his rule—leading to a bitter relationship between father and son, that Aegon attempted to undermine at every opportunity.
For as bad as Aegon IV’s reign was while he was alive, it was on his deathbed that he cemented his legacy as one of the worst kings in House Targaryen: as a final act of spite, Aegon legitimized all of his bastard children in the line of succession, including his favored son Daemon (who he had with Daena), who took the name Blackfyre after Aegon gifted him the sword of Aegon the Conqueror as a sign of his approval. Although Daeron still took the crown after his father’s death, Aegon’s last act set the stage for the rise of House Blackfyre, and the series of rebellions that would sow chaos for decades to come.
Aerys I (209-221 AC)
Unlike many of the rulers mentioned here so far, Aerys I isn’t in this potted history of terrible Targaryens for a reign of cruelty. If anything, Aerys I might be one of the nicer Targaryens on the list—but that was his problem. Aerys’ rule came about from an unlikely, unfortunate series of events: the death of his brother Baelor after he participated in the Trial of Seven at Ashford Meadow, and the death of his father and nephews in the Great Spring Sickness that followed.
Aerys never really expected to rule and, in many ways, didn’t want to: although much of his early reign was a time of tumult for the seven kingdoms, Aerys found solace in his books, letting his hand, Brynden Rivers, rule with an iron fist in his stead. Aerys’ lack of interest allowed House Blackfyre, initially quelled in its attempts at rebellion by his father Daeron II, to attempt multiple successor rebellions, if not for the guiding hand of Rivers. Aerys died heirless, throwing the Targaryen line of succession into further confusion, leading to some unlikely (but far better) rulers than even he was.
Aerys II (262-283 AC)
There’d be no version of a list of the Worst Targaryens to sit on the Iron Throne without the Mad King himself. It’s not just the fact his reign ended in fire, blood, and the end of the Targaryen dynasty as it had been known for nearly 300 years, but Aerys II’s rule, even as long as it was, was defined by strife even before it led to the outbreak of rebellion.
Aerys himself barely governed, leaving the details of rule to his hand, Tywin Lannister, while he dreamt of outlandish ways to immortalize his rule of the realm, such as a second great wall in the North. But after his capture by House Duskendale in 277 AC—and Aerys’ terrible retribution upon his rescue—things went from bad to worse, as an increasingly paranoid king lashed out at his subjects with executions and immolations. One execution too many—the burnings of Brandon and Rickard Stark after the perceived kidnapping of Lyanna Stark by Aerys’ son Rhaegar—stirred the kingdom to revolt, changing Westeros’ history for good.
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