Aenys and Maegor

Greeting fellow acolytes. Welcome to another episode of The Westerosi Primer. My name is Liz. If you’re new to this podcast, welcome! I hope you enjoy this journey of all things Westeros. And in this episode, I’ll be talking about Aenys and Maegor Targaryen.

Before I start the discussion, there are a couple of things to note. First there will be some potential spoilers for people who have not read any of the books connected to A Song of Ice and Fire. There may also be potential spoilers for House of the Dragon and other future shows adapted by Max in the future. So if you’re okay with this, then please continue listening.

Second, the information in this episode comes from the written works of George R. R. Martin and the contributors of A Wiki of Ice and Fire on Westeros.org. Check out the full show notes and other links located on this show’s website: thewesterosiprimer.com With that said, let’s begin!

As I indicated in the previous episode, I will be talking about Aenys and Maegor. These two brothers were both kings, as I’ll explain in a bit. It’s hard to talk about either brother without mentioning the other. This is why I realized this had to be an episode where I talk about both them rather than separate episodes for each brother. Aenys is the older brother so I’ll be talking about him first though naturally I’ll be talking about Maegor simultaneously at various points. I’m going to be bouncing back and forth about various people in this story so it’s not too different from a typical episode of Game of Thrones where we follow multiple characters and their storylines as they gradually intersect with each other. So bear with me here.

As I mentioned in the previous episode, the two brothers were born during the war with Dorne. Aenys was born in AC 7 on Dragonstone while Maegor was born in AC 12 on Dragonstone. This means that Aenys was about 3 years old when his mother Rhaenys was killed fighting in Dorne. Aenys was a sickly child and there were actually rumors that he wasn’t the son of Aegon, who was a strong, capable warrior. Meanwhile the boy was not only sickly, but he on the thin side and deemed too timid to be Aegon’s kid. However Aenys got a hatchling named Silverwing and the bond between them seemed to make him thrive.

Aenys never developed a particularly close relationship with his younger brother. For one thing he’s five years older. Also Aenys was living with his father. Meanwhile Maegor lived mostly on Dragonstone with his mother, Visenya. This arrangement  seems to reaffirm the idea that Aegon didn’t particularly love Visenya and their marriage was purely political and for tradition. He would be trained as a warrior by members of the Kingsguard and even occasionally used Blackfyre. Aenys would also join his father on some of his tours of the Seven kingdoms as well.

Maegor, on the hand, is basically the complete opposite of Aenys. Maegor was always physically imposing and proved to be a fearsome warrior. Also he was the opposite to his older brother in personality. As I’ll get to later, Aenys is pretty passive and indecisive a lot of times. Maegor is hot tempered, and knows his own mind to the point of being stubborn and unyielding. It’s pretty interesting to see these opposites in these brothers considering there have been comparison between the brothers and another set of Targaryen brothers: Viserys and Daemon.

In AC 22, Aenys married Alyssa Velaryon, which was of course another political marriage. They had 6 children together: Aegon, Viserys, Jaehaerys, Rhaena, Alysanne, and Vaella, though Vaella died as a baby. If any of you listeners have checked out episode 1.04 about the Stormlands, you’d hopefully recognize Alyssa Velaryon, but more on that a little later. Another interesting thing to know is that Rhaena was the first child born in the year 23.

At that time, Visenya proposed a betrothal between the newborn Rhaena to her uncle Maegor to tie together the potential claims to the throne. Aenys and Alyssa refused to accept this idea. The Faith of the Seven were also against this because incest is creepy and was unacceptable. The High Septon at that time just happened to be a Hightower and he recommended his niece Ceryse as the bride instead.

Interesting thing to note is that only Rhaena, Jaehaerys, and Alysanne got dragons as children. Rhaena’s dragon is Dreamfyre, which is also Helaena Targaryen’s dragon. And as I mentioned in my reaction to House of the Dragon episode 2.07, Jaehaerys’ dragon is Vermithor and Alysanne’s dragon is Silverwing.

As Aegon grew older, Aenys and Alyssa would do the tours on his behalf. And then eventually Aegon dies and Aenys is crowned king. After the funeral, Aenys gives Blackfyre to his brother Maegor acknowledging that Maegor was an actual warrior and more worthy of using Blackfyre. Maegor would also end up claiming Balerion from his now dead father. Aenys also told his brother that they would rule together with Maegor being his sword. After his coronation, Aenys did a tour with his wife and children to visit Oldtown, Riverrun, Lannisport, and Highgarden. The coronation was at the Starry Sept.

Aenys’s reign was short and filled with a lot of problems. He started off as popular with the common people. However he was deemed weak by many people, including his own aunt/step-mother Visenya. At different points he demonstrated a lack of willpower and was indecisive. There were actually four rebellions happening during his first year as king. He struggled with how to solve the crises, but it was actually local lords that solved the problem.

In the Riverlands, there was a bandit-king who claimed to be a grandson of Harren the Black. Red Harren took over Harrenhal after killing Lord Qoherys, which meant the first family to be Lord of Harrenhal died out. If you guys listened to episode 1.09, I mentioned some of the families that had lordship of the half burnt castle.

In the Iron Islands, a man claiming to be a Drowned Priest started agitating against Aenys. Some of the Dornishmen led by a man known as the Vulture king were also agitating for another war of revenge for the first Dornish war. In the Vale, Jonos Arryn usurped his elder brother the former child king, Ronnel Arryn and declared himself King of the Vale. How did these conflicts get resolved? Like I said Aenys had little to no involvement in ending these rebellions.

Lord Allard Royce led a force against the kinslaying Jonos Arryn, who threw his brother out of the moon door. Maegor also flew on Balerion to the Vale to help settle the situation. In the end, Jonos was betrayed by his supporters out of fear of being burned alive by a dragon. Of course they were all rebels against the rightful lord Ronnel, so they were all executed for treason.

Lord Goren Greyjoy led men against the alleged priest-king and reaffirmed fealty to the Iron Throne. The reward he was granted was his desire to get rid of the Faith from the Iron Islands, which Aenys was forced to agree to. This was actually something I discussed in episode 1.08 about the Iron Islands. In fact, his agreement to Greyjoy’s request will have some consequences which I’ll get to in a bit.

The Marcher lords eventually captured and killed the Vulture king, which ended the brewing rebellion in Dorne. If you don’t know what Marcher lords are you’ll have to check out season 1 of this podcast as I make mention of them in at least 3 different episodes including the ones about Dorne, the Stormlands, and the Reach.

Aenys’ Hand, Lord Alyn Stokeworth, led a group to hunt down and kill Red Harren and his gang. In fact Stokeworth dies fighting Red Harren and Maegor would then become Hand of the King for two years. During this time period, the brothers worked very well together. However problems arose when Maegor indicated that Ceryse was barren because they had no child after two years of marriage. He decided to marry Alys Harroway as a second wife. Aenys was angry about this and so was the High Septon and the rest of the Faith. Aenys told Maegor to either leave Alys or go into exile. Maegor chose exile with Alys and abandoned Ceryse. Ceryse goes back to Oldtown. Aenys chose a septon named Murmison as Hand to calm down the anger of the Faith.

However this doesn’t work because afterwards, Aenys decides to betroth his two oldest children, Rhaena and Aegon, to each other. Again the Faith was angry about continued Targaryen incest and refuse to accept this betrothal. In one of his rare times of decisiveness, Aenys continues with his plan and Murmison marries the siblings. The Warrior’s sons were taking proverbial names of who attended this wedding. Aenys also declares Aegon is the Prince of Dragonstone and therefore heir to the throne. Visenya left in protest against Maegor’s disinheritance since he was the Prince of Dragonstone.

In case you weren’t aware, the Warrior’s sons were a group of holy knights who basically fight on behalf of the Faith instead of a particular lord. As a consequence of the wedding, Murmison was expelled from the Faith for performing the ceremony and later killed.

Aegon and Rhaena were sent on a tour of the kingdoms. Unfortunately Rhaena was forced to leave Dreamfyre behind because their father was worried about Aegon looking weak riding a horse while his wife got to ride a dragon. The tour was supposed to be a good will PR campaign, but they were jeered at by everyone who disagreed with the incestuous marriage. The High Septon denounces Aenys and his house and a Faith militant uprising begins. The Warrior’s Sons and Poor fellows began attacking the king’s supporters along with other pious lords. Aegon and Rhaena were trapped at Crakehall in the Westerlands due to the constant harassment by people against the king. It got so bad Aenys and the rest of his family fled King’s Landing for Dragonstone after an assassination attempt at the Red keep.

Eventually Aenys became ill and Visenya tried to care for him. He never fully recovers and dies in AC 42. After the funeral, Visenya flies off to Pentos to bring back Maegor from exile. Maegor is crowned the king after his brother despite the fact young Prince Aegon was still very much alive. While Visenya was gone to get Maegor, Alyssa fled Dragonstone to Driftmark with her three remaining children: Viserys, Jaehaerys, and Alysanne.

Meanwhile in the Westerlands, Aegon and Rhaena were initially trapped at Crakehall by the Faith Militant. They managed to flee to Casterly Rock where they were offered guest right and safe haven by Lord Lyman Lannister. At this point Rhaena was pregnant and gave birth to their twin daughters, Aerea and Rhaella Targaryen. Despite he was his father’s heir, there was skepticism from some because he didn’t have a dragon and therefore was possibly a weak ruler like his father versus his more dynamic uncle.

Now that Maegor is going to become king let’s get into what happens next with him. He arrives on Dragonstone where he gets crowned with his father’s crown. The Grand Maester was protesting this as Aegon was declared the heir after Aenys, but unsurprisingly Maegor killed him. Maegor flies off to King’s Landing to claim his seat on the Iron Throne and gather supporters. By this point the Faith Militant had control of the sept in King’s Landing and they protested against him. This leads to the leader of the Warrior’s Son to call a Trial by Seven.

Now many of you are familiar by this point of Trial by combat as that has come up in Game of Thrones at least a couple different times. Trial by seven is basically the same thing except instead of a one-on-one duel, it’s a team fight. You got seven fighters on each side and they fight until one side yields or they are dead. Initially no one wanted to fight on Maegor’s side until a couple men step up and basically shame others to join in. The trial ends when literally everyone except Maegor dies, though he does get badly injured to the point where he ended up in a coma for a month.

While Maegor was in his coma, Alys Harroway arrived with a mysterious woman name Tyanna of the Tower. There are lots of rumors and stories about Tyanna. There are claims she’s a witch and knows sorcery. There were also rumors that she was Alys’s paramour. After waking up from his coma, Maegor would proceed to burn down the Sept of Remembrance that the Warrior’s sons were hiding in while archers killed anyone who managed to escape the burning sept. He would participate in two other battles killing more of the Faith Militant

Visenya flew off to Driftmark to convince Alyssa and her children to go to King’s Landing. Alyssa was there to attend the official wedding of Maegor to Tyanna. The fact she was in King’s Landing during this period made people think she abandoned her son and his claim to the throne. Alyssa had been secretly reaching out to other lords to gain support for her son. However lords weren’t prepared to support Aegon unless he won a battle. Tyanna informed Maegor what his sister-in-law had been doing. Not too long afterwards Tyanna became the Mistress of Whispers for her husband. Interestingly, Visenya mistrusted her newest daughter-in-law and her growing influence.

In the year AC 43, a lot of things happened. Visenya helped quell rebellion against her son being king. She and Maegor head to Oldtown where the Faith is headquartered. Maegor stays in Oldtown for months dealing with the remnants of rebellion from the Faith while there. Ceryse had been staying at Oldtown this whole time still defending her position as Maegor’s actual wife. After some negotiation she agrees to accept his other wives as long as her position as his first wife and queen is maintained. She goes back to king’s landing though she later dies in AC 45. The official record said she died of illness though there’s plenty of speculations and rumors saying differently.

While Maegor was off in Oldtown, Aegon and Rhaena got some support to sneak into King’s Landing. You’d think they were trying to steal the throne back while Maegor was gone, but in reality they were there to get dragons. Rhaena got Dreamfyre back and Aegon actually ended up claiming his father’s dragon Quicksilver.

Aegon had been traveling through the Riverlands trying to gain support and was able to get an army. Despite having a larger force, he was too ieexperienced and didn’t want to fight the smaller forces that were heading to oppose him. Eventually there is a fateful battle between uncle and nephew at the God’s Eye. It shouldn’t be too surprising that Balerion easily defeated the smaller and younger Quicksilver and inexperienced Aegon. Yes, there can’t possibly be another similar battle happening again in say… a century later? Certainly not! But alas there ends the short campaign for a Prince Aegon. The parallels, you guys.

Visenya convinces Maegor to pardon many of the rebellious lords as a way to end the fighting. To try to prevent further rebellions and claimants to the throne, Alyssa and her children become “wards” on Dragonstone. Convenient hostages for good behavior. Alyssa’s middle son, Viserys was made his uncle’s squire and was essentially a hostage at the Red Keep. At this point in time, Maegor had also made Alys’s father Hand of the King. Rhaena meanwhile had fled with her twin daughters. To protect her children, she had them fostered with other families and their locations were unknown to her so she couldn’t be forced to give them up. She wound up on Fair Isle under the protection of House Farman. Unlike her daughters, it was hard for Rhaena to truly hide herself considering she has a dragon.

In the year AC 44, Visenya would die. During the confusion, Alysanne fled again with her two youngest children along with Dark Sister. After his mother fled with Jaehaerys and Alysanne, Viserys was tortured to death for days by Tyanna. Maegor hoped that Alyssa would return to claim his body but she never did and they cremated the boy per Targaryen tradition.

After a lot of struggle with getting heirs, Alys winds up pregnant. However not too long into the pregnancy, she prematurely gives birth to a deformed fetus and nearly dies. Tyanna convinces Maegor that Alys had been cheating on him and the baby was possibly not his. Initially Maegor doesn’t believe this, but Tyanna provides “evidence” and Maegor literally kills not only Alys, but her entire house, and anyone associated with her family in the Riverlands as punishment for her transgressions.

Maegor would continue a campaign of fighting rebellions by members of the Faith Millitant for the next couple of years. He also had construction crews who completed the Red Keep executed after completion in AC 45. The many secret tunnels in the Red Keep we’ve seen in Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon were in fact created by Maegor’s instructions. Killing the construction teams would keep the tunnels a secret. The next project was the Dragonpit where the Sept of Remembrance once stood. However skilled builders were understandably frightened of being killed so they fled and convict labor was used instead.

By AC 47, Maegor still had no child of his own as his heir and his only wife is Tyanna. Tyanna still hadn’t gotten pregnant. In his need for an heir he had a triple wedding with three women who had children already and therefore were clearly fertile. These three women would be known as “The black brides” since they were all widows because of Maegor. And one of them was his own niece Rhaena in order to weaken the claims of her younger siblings. The other two brides were Jeyne Westerling and Elinor Costayne. Rhaena agreed only because she likely didn’t want the Farmans to be punished for her rebellion. Maegor decrees that until he has a child of his own, Aerea, would be his heir and her younger sister Rhaella was sent to Oldtown to become a septa.

The following year in AC 48, Jeyne and Elinor did get pregnant. Like Alys, Jeyne went into labor early and her baby was deformed. Jeyne died not long afterwards. By this point Tyanna was arrested and she admitted that she poisoned Alys’ and Jeyne’s unborn children. She also claims that Elinor’s baby would be deformed too. Maegor kills Tyanna and her prediction is true.

As you can imagine, literally everyone in Westeros was tired of Maegor’s cruelty including some of the members of his small council. By this point, Jaehaerys decides to declare his challenge for the throne. At this point, Rhaena takes the opportunity to flee King’s Landing with Dreamfyre and Aerea to Storm’s End where her brother currently was.

By this point, Alyssa and her two remaining children had gone into hiding this whole time. They found support with Lord Rogar Baratheon, who declares his support for Jaehaerys. Maegor ordered Rhaella to be killed for Jaehaerys and Rhaena’s behavior. However House Hightower refused to obey this order. Maegor really has no supporters left at this point. And then suddenly Maegor dies. Elinor is the only queen left at the Red Keep and she discovers him sitting on the Iron Throne dead. He was covered in blood with his wrists slashed and one of the chair’s blades impaling him through his throat. To this day, there’s speculations, but no answers as to whether he committed suicide or it was murder.

Despite the tyrant king being dead, there’s still a lot of messy situations left in Westeros that has to be resolved. And the person who has to fix this situation is Jaehaerys I, aka the Conciliator. In many respects I feel like King Henry VIII was an influence on Maegor’s character given the 6 wives he had and his inability to have a child of his own as an heir. Granted Henry did have 3 legitimate children, but it’s the urgent need for heirs coloring his decisions that clearly is referenced here. Also his increased cruelty after a coma was in fact something that happened to Henry. Another influence is probably the emperor Caligula who also became cruel after a bought of illness. Perhaps Russia’s Ivan the terrible as well.

And that just about covers the lives of Aenys I and Maegor the Cruel. If you’re interested in finding out more for yourself, feel free to go to the full show notes where I will have links. Though be aware if you do any of this research there will be spoilers to the novels, House of the Dragon, and Max’s future adaptations.

Decades later, Otto Hightower expresses concerns about Daemon Targaryen possibly becoming king after his brother Viserys and becoming “a second Maegor.” Well now that you know who the heck Maegor is, what do you guys think? Is Otto right and Daemon could have turned out like his distant uncle if he was king? Let me know!

Thank you for listening and tune in to the next episode where we’ll talk about one of the most influential kings in Westeros and his equally important wife.