Aegon III Targaryen

Aegon III Targaryen, also known as Aegon the Younger, and later as Aegon the Unlucky, Aegon the Unhappy, the Broken King, and most famously as Aegon the Dragonbane, was the seventh Targaryen king to sit the Iron Throne. He succeeded his uncle, Aegon II Targaryen, at the conclusion of the Dance of the Dragons, which saw the victorious supporters of his late mother Rhaenyra Targaryen install him on the throne. When he was a child, his dragon was Stormcloud. Aegon kept the kingdoms united following the divisions of the civil war with the aid of his brother, Prince Viserys, whom he eventually named Hand of the King.

His reign was the first of House Targaryen to rule wihout he almighty power of the Dragons. He was succeeded by his son Daeron I Targaryen.

Appearance and Character
Aegon was a handsome boy with dark purple eyes which looked almost black, and silver hair which was so pale that it was almost white. He was lean of face and body. By the age of ten, Aegon was considered tall for his age. According to a semi-canon source, Aegon wore a short beard.

Aegon dressed simply, and in black (always, according to Maester Yandel, most oft according to Archmaester Gyldayn). Under his velvets and satins, he would wear a hair shirt. He wore a circlet of yellow gold, simple and unadorned.

Aegon was a joyless man, severely marked by his experiences during the Dance of the Dragons. Mushroom's accounts state that Aegon seldom smiled and laughed even less, even as a boy. According to the dwarf, Aegon could be graceful and courtly when it was required, but at the same time had a darkness within him that never went away. The guilt he felt over having abandoned his younger brother Viserys when their ships were attacked during the Dance of the Dragons, caused him to become somber. Grand Maester Munkun called Aegon "broken" after having lost his brothers and having watched his mother being eaten by his uncle's dragon, and described him as "dead inside"; Aegon showed little interest in women, did not ride (except for travel), hawk, hunt, or joust, nor attended tourneys. He did not enjoy reading, dancing, or singing, and was not interested in wine or food, so much so that he often had to be reminded to eat. Similarly, he had little interest in swordplay or the arts of war.

Aegon rarely displayed emotions, although the mere mention of dragons would send him into a rage, nor was he willing to go near one.

Although clever, he was an overall silent person, who never started a conversation, and answered questions as curtly as possible. He was regarded as solemn, dour, and gloomy. He spoke little, and often retreated into silence, solitude, and a brooding passivity. Aegon had few friends, and during the early years of his reign seldom slept a full night. He rarely left the Red Keep after his coronation. Following his second marriage, Aegon's gloom was lifted for a short while.

Although some joy returned to Aegon following the return of his brother Viserys, he would always remain a melancholy man who found pleasure in almost nothing, who disliked being touched, and who would retreat to his chambers for days on end, brooding alone.

Youth
Aegon was born towards the end of 120 AC to Prince Daemon Targaryen and Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. Aegon was named after the first Targaryen king, Aegon the Conqueror. Queen Alicent Hightower, the second wife of his grandfather King Viserys I Targaryen, took offense to Aegon's name, since she had given birth to a son named Aegon herself years before, and felt that Rhaenyra's choice of the name was a slight against her own son. Because two princes during the reign of King Viserys I Targaryen were named Aegon, history refers to Queen Alicent's son as Aegon the Elder, whereas Rhaenyra's son was called Aegon the Younger.

Aegon had three older half-brothers, Princes Jacaerys, Lucerys, and Joffrey Velaryon, from his mother's first marriage, to Ser Laenor Velaryon, and two older half-sisters, Princesses Baela and Rhaena Targaryen, from his father's second marriage, to Lady Laena Velaryon. Two years after Aegon's birth, Rhaenyra gave birth to another boy, Viserys. Aegon lived with his mother, father, and siblings on Dragonstone, the ancestral seat of House Targaryen and his mother's seat as the Princess of Dragonstone. In 129 AC on Dragonstone, his mother gave birth to Aegon's sister, Visenya, who was stillborn.

Aegon shared his bedchamber with his younger brother Viserys. They were constant companions during their youth on Dragonstone; they took their lessons together, and played together as well. By 129 AC, Aegon had bonded with the dragon Stormcloud.

The Dance of the Dragons
A war of succession began with the death of Aegon's grandfather, King Viserys I Targaryen, early in 129 AC. Though Aegon's mother, Rhaenyra Targaryen, had been named heir to the Iron Throne by Viserys, Aegon the Younger's half-uncle, Aegon the Elder, was crowned King Aegon II in King's Landing. The resulting war became known as the Dance of the Dragons.

As part of the terms King Aegon II Targaryen offered to Prince Aegon's mother Rhaenyra, Aegon the Younger and his brother Viserys would be given places of honor at the royal court, with Aegon becoming a squire for King Aegon II. Rhaenyra angrily refused the terms.

Late in 129 AC, at the behest of their half-brother Jacaerys Velaryon, Aegon and his younger brother Viserys were sent to Essos while their mother Rhaenyra secured the Iron Throne. During the journey, their ship, the Gay Abandon, was captured by ships of the Triarchy. Aegon escaped capture by flying on his dragon Stormcloud, leaving his brother Viserys behind. He had never flown Stormcloud before, and the experience left him shaken. He clung to the dragon's neck during the journey back to Dragonstone, where he informed the garrison of all that had happened. His dragon Stormcloud had been severely wounded during the flight and died within an hour after arriving on the Targaryen island. Aegon would never ride a dragon again.

Aegon would always feel guilty for leaving his younger brother Viserys behind. Their brother Jacaerys led an attack against the fleet of the Triarchy that had attacked Aegon's ship, but died in the struggle together with his dragon Vermax on the fifth day of 130 AC.

In 130 AC Queen Rhaenyra took King's Landing. Once she felt secure enough, Aegon was summoned to the capital. Rhaenyra named him her cupbearer, so he would always be close to her. Aegon hardly spoke a word during this time.

Although Rhaenyra had secured the capital, her reign was still faced several threats, most notably the missing King Aegon II Targaryen, Prince Aemond Targaryen and his dragon Vhagar, who were terrorizing the riverlands, and the large army under the command of Lord Ormund Hightower and Prince Daeron Targaryen, which continued to advance on King's Landing, defeating every enemy they met on route. Lord Corlys Velaryon, Rhaenyra's Hand of the Queen, suggested terms of peace, which included him taking Aegon II's daughter Jaehaera Targaryen as his own ward, until she could be wed to Prince Aegon. Rhaenyra refused.

During Rhaenyra's half-year rule over King's Landing, she slowly lost her grip, eventually resulting in the riot of King's Landing, which lasted two days and was concluded by the storming of the Dragonpit. During the second night of the riots, Aegon and his mother stood on the roof of the Red Keep, from where they witnessed the fall of Prince Joffrey Velaryon from the dragon Syrax, and the dragon's death. The next morning, Aegon fled with his mother Rhaenyra and a few loyal men and women from the capital, eventually finding refuge at Duskendale. Rhaenyra, grieving and in despair, refused to be apart from Aegon while at Duskendale, and he became a "small pale shadow" by her side.

Aegon and Rhaenyra traveled from Duskendale to Dragonstone on the Violande. However, in Rhaenyra's absence her seat had secretly fallen to King Aegon II, and when Aegon and Rhaenyra arrived at the castle's gates, they found the charred corpses of Rhaenyra's loyalists hanging from the gates. Aegon was the first to realize what it meant and cried out to his mother to flee, to no avail. Rhaenyra's last three Queensguard knights were slain, and when Aegon picked up one of their swords, Ser Alfred Broome contemptuously knocked it aside. They were brought to the castle ward, where they found an injured Sunfyre and King Aegon II Targaryen. Prince Aegon watched in horror as Sunfyre devoured his mother.

Aegon was forever mentally scarred, and this event cemented his later fierce hatred for and terror of dragons.

Ser Alfred Broome was in favor of killing Prince Aegon, but King Aegon II refused, insisting that the young prince was valuable as a hostage against Rhaenyra's supporters. Prince Aegon was manacled and brought to the dungeons under Dragonstone.

At King's Landing, King Aegon II's followers enlisted the support of Lord Corlys Velaryon. Lord Corlys insisted that Prince Aegon the Younger was wed to Aegon's only remaining child, Princess Jaehaera, to join the two branches of House Targaryen, and further demanded that Aegon the Younger and Jaehaera would be proclaimed King Aegon II's heirs together. Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower initially refused, but was later persuaded by Lord Larys Strong to reluctantly agree to the betrothal.

King Aegon II, however, upon his arrival at King's Landing, refused the notion, insisting that Rhaenyra's line should end with Aegon the Younger, suggesting that the boy could join the Night's Watch, or otherwise be made a eunuch, as to prevent him from fathering children. While Lord Tyland Lannister argued for executing Aegon the Younger, Lord Larys Strong convinced King Aegon II to agree to both the betrothal to Princess Jaehaera, as well as to naming Aegon the Younger as the heir to the throne, insisting that, after the war was done and won, the situation could be dealt with.

Prince Aegon would remain his uncle's captive for half a year after his mother's death, during which time his mother's supporters continued to fight against King Aegon II and his greens. King Aegon II was eventually murdered by his own men, after which Lord Corlys Velaryon and Prince Aegon rode forth from the city under a peace banner to yield King's Landing to the army of Lord Kermit Tully. Aegon the Younger inherited the throne as Aegon III in 131 AC.

Aegon's regency
In mid-131 AC, Aegon succeeded to the Iron Throne at the age of ten. During the five years of his minority that followed, the realm was therefore ruled by Aegon's Hand of the King and a council of regents. Numerous political schemes, plots, and assassinations happened in those five years as the regents and Hands fought one another for political power.

During the False Dawn, the riverlords who had marched against King's Landing and the forces of Aegon II swore fealty to the new king. After Aegon II had been cremated, Prince Aegon proclaimed on Aegon's High Hill that peace was at hand, while Lord Corlys Velaryon send forth promises of pardons to Aegon II's former loyalists. Together with Lord Corlys, Lord Kermit Tully and his brother, Ser Oscar, and Lord Benjicot Blackwood Aegon welcomed Lord Cregan Stark to the city. Lord Cregan seized power in King's Landing in what became known as the Hour of the Wolf. Some claimed that Lord Cregan planned to take Aegon to Winterfell to wed one of his daughters (although Cregan had no daughters at the time), others claimed that he planned to kill Aegon to claim the Iron Throne by wedding Princess Jaehaera. While Cregan investigated the murder of Aegon II, Prince Aegon was confined by Stark to Maegor's Holdfast. Aegon was eventually forced by Stark to name him Hand of the King, who began executing those held responsible for the former king's death. The only person spared was Corlys Velaryon, on Aegon's authority, who restored him to his offices and honors and gave him a seat on the small council. Although in his minority, still uncrowned, and anointed as king, Lord Cregan Stark agreed to let Aegon's decree stand. Aegon later witnessed the other executions.

Aegon was married to his cousin, Princess Jaehaera Targaryen, on the seventh day of the seven moon in 131 AC. The ceremony was performed outside of the ruined Dragonpit on Visenya's Hill. The marriage united the two branches of House Targaryen. Following the wedding, the couple traveled in an open litter to the Red Keep, where Aegon was officially crowned as King Aegon III.

Aegon's first act as king was to fill the five vacancies in the Kingsguard. Next appointed were the Hand of the King, Ser Tyland Lannister, the Protector of the Realm, Lord Leowyn Corbray, and the council of regents to sit over them. Although Aegon III would sit upon the Iron Throne when it was required of him, he was otherwise not often seen. By the end of 131 AC, the people of King's Landing began to grow unhappy with their king, while rumors about the new Hand began to spread.

The sudden death of Lord Corlys Velaryon in 132 AC raised the issue of the king's successor. When King Aegon was asked who his heir should be, the king offered the name of his only friend, Gaemon Palehair, the bastard-born pretender during the Moon of Madness during the Dance of the Dragons. The suggestion was ignored by the regents. Although Aegon's half-sisters Baela and Rhaena were dismissed on account of their sex, they determined that any son the twins, in particular Baela, the elder of the two, would have, would be a suitable successor to the king.

When the Winter Fever struck Westeros in early 133 AC, Aegon distinguished himself by visiting those stricken by the disease, sitting beside them and sometimes holding their hands. He seldom spoke, but was a great comfort to those afflicted nonetheless. He likewise sat beside his Hand, Ser Tyland Lannister, as he passed away from the disease.

In the days following Ser Tyland's death, Aegon named Ser Robert Darklyn and Ser Robin Massey to the Kingsguard. King Aegon commanded the disgraced former Grand Maester Orwyle to send forth ravens to summon Lord Thaddeus Rowan, who he wished to name as his new Hand, Lord Alyn Velaryon, who he wished to name as his admiral, and his cousin Baela Targaryen to court. However, Lord Unwin Peake and Grand Maester Munkun, the two remaining regents healthy enough serve in their office, undid all of the king's appointments. With Munkun's support, Peake named himself Hand of the King.

Unwin also undid the appointments of Ser Robert Darklyn and Ser Robin Massey to the Kingsguard and instead gave their white cloaks to his own kin. When Aegon objected and pointed out that Kingsguard serve for life, Lord Unwin replied that they do, but only when officially appointed. Unwin made further appointments around court, with all positions filled by his supporters, family, and friends. This included the appointment of Ser Gareth Long as the new master-at-arms of the Red Keep, who took over Aegon's training at arms. Aegon quickly grew to despise Ser Gareth and often ignored his instructions, refused to cooperate or simply walked away. Since Gareth was not allowed to harm the king, he advised Lord Peake to make Aegon's only friend and companion, Gaemon Palehair, the king's whipping boy. Gaemon's tears and blood were motivation enough for Aegon, and his skill at arms improved dramatically.

On the Feast Day of Our Father Above in 133 AC, Aegon watched on as Lord Peake had the crowded dungeons of the Red Keep emptied and had all the offenders punished publicly. Some of the condemned beseeched the king for mercy, but Aegon stood still as stone, seemingly not hearing any of the pleas.

Later the same year, the king's marriage to his wife ended when Jaehaera died seemingly of suicide, although rumors of murder were told all throughout King's Landing. Lord Unwin attempted to betroth the king to his own daughter, Myrielle Peake, but many lords disapproved of the match, which took place so soon after the queen's death. Lord Cregan Stark suggested the north would look on the match with disfavor, Lord Kermit Tully called it presumptuous, and Grand Maester Munkun's support began to waver, acknowledging that the match would be seen as advancing Peake interests rather than being for the good of the realm. Noble ladies wrote to the crown, proposing their own relatives as Aegon's bride (or themselves, in some cases). Due to the pressure, Peake instead announced a ball in King's Landing where the king himself would be able to choose his own bride.

In the weeks before the ball, Peake had his daughter spent much time with the king. At the ball itself, held on Maiden's Day, all candidates were presented to the king as he was seated on the Iron Throne. Aegon only nodded to each before the Kingsguard led her away. Aegon's disinterest increased with every passing hour, which, according to Mushroom, was exactly what Peake had desired.

When only a few maidens remained, Baela and Rhaena Targaryen arrived with their kinswoman Daenaera Velaryon, a six-year-old girl. Afterwards, the last few candidates were brought forward hurriedly, and it was so clear that the king wished to end the parade that the final maiden sobbed as she curtsied. Afterwards, the king summoned his cupbearer, Gaemon Palehair, who announced that Aegon would wed Daenaera Velaryon. Although Peake afterwards insisted that Aegon should instead be married to an older girl, as to be able to father heirs, he was overruled by the other regents. Aegon and Daenaera were wed on the last day of the year.

For a short while following his marriage, Aegon became less gloomy, although the attitude of his Hand did much to return him back to his former, passive self. When in 134 AC Lord Alyn Velaryon returned to King’s Landing from his first grant voyage, King Aegon and the court traveled to the docks to welcome him home. There, Lord Velaryon presented Aegon with a “treasure” acquired in Lys: Aegon’s younger brother Viserys, who had been presumed death since the Battle of the Gullet in early 130 AC. Viserys’s survival and return lifted the guilt Aegon had felt since abandoning the Gay Abandon, and did much to reduce his loneliness, as Viserys resumed his role as Aegon’s constant companion, while Aegon’s other friend, Gaemon Palehair, was forgotten, and Queen Daenaera neglected.

Viserys was accompanied by his wife, Larra Rogare, and several of her brothers. When Larra gave birth to a son the following year, King Aegon III’s succession seemed secure. Viserys, who had kept his own dragon egg with him during his captivity, similarly presented his own son with an egg. However, when King Aegon learned that the dragon egg of Laena Velaryon had brought form a wingless wyrm which had injured the babe in the cradle, he ordered all eggs removed from the castle, to Viserys’s anger. Aegon and Viserys did not speak for a month, until Gaemon Palehair, Aegon’s friend and foodtaster, died in the attempted poisoning of the king and queen. Although Aegon was comforted by his brother in his grief, Gaemon’s death left him inconsolable, and his old gloom settled over him once more, leaving him uninterested in the court and his kingdom.

As a result of the fall of House Rogare in Lys and the bankruptcy of their bank, the Rogares in Westeros were arrested in swift order. While one of Larra’s brothers fled to Braavos, the other two were arrested, as was Aegon’s Hand, Lord Thaddeus Rowan, and several others. When Ser Amaury Peake arrived at Maegor's Holdfast to arrest Larra Rogare, he was faced by Prince Viserys and King Aegon III, who refused Peake and his men entry, resulting in the secret siege, which lasted eighteen days. On the twelfth day, the besiegers brought forth Lord Rowan, who had been accused of participating in the assassination attempt on Aegon. When Prince Viserys proved Rowan’s confessions to have been false, Aegon declared that Lord Rowan had been tortured by traitors into falsely confessing, and demanded of Ser Marston Waters, who had assumed the position of Hand during the siege, to "seize the Lord Confessor, if you love your king… else I will know that you are as false as he is." According to Archmaester Gyldayn, the fifteen-year-old Aegon seemed "every inch a king" in that moment. Six days later, when Munkun sent forth ravens summoning the lords to the capital, King Aegon ended his siege.

Aegon restored Lord Thaddeus to the office as Hand of the King, but it soon became clear that the torture he had survived had left him unfit to serve as Hand. Subsequently, he was dismissed and the office was instead temporarily bestowed on Grand Maester Munkun, until a new Hand could be named. At the gathering of lords in 136 AC, three new regents were selected by lot, while Lord Torrhen Manderly was chosen as the new hand.

Reign of the Broken King
On Aegon's sixteenth nameday in 136 AC, the king arrived at the small council meeting, where he dismissed his regents and his Hand, and canceled the plans they had been making for him to make a royal progress. Lord Torrhen Manderly was greatly affronted by the brusque manner of his dismissal, and according to Archmaester Gyldayn this act made Manderly Aegon's enemy.

Aegon was regarded as a broken king who ruled over a broken reign. Aegon was melancholic to the end of his days, found pleasure in almost nothing, and locked himself in his room to brood for days on end. It took ten years until Aegon consummated his marriage when his wife was sixteen, but eventually Queen Daenaera Velaryon birthed Aegon five children: Daeron (born in 143 AC) and Baelor (born in 144 AC), Daena (born in 145 AC), Rhaena (born in 147 AC), and Elaena (born in 150 AC). Following his birth, Prince Daeron was named Prince of Dragonstone by Aegon.

As king, Aegon III strove to give the realm peace and plenty, but his coldness kept him from courting his lords and people. During the later years of his reign, Aegon's Hand was his brother, Prince Viserys Targaryen. Together, Aegon and Viserys dealt with the pretenders claiming to be Prince Daeron Targaryen, brother to the late King Aegon II Targaryen. All of these pretenders were proven to be imposters.

Aegon is often blamed for the death of the last dragon, having had a great distaste for dragons after the tragic death of Stormcloud and because he witnessed his mother being devoured by Sunfyre. As the last dragon died during his reign, Aegon III became known as "Aegon the Dragonbane". Regardless, Aegon became convinced that dragons could be used to cow those who sought to oppose him. At the urging of his brother Viserys, Aegon brought nine mages from Essos to attempt to hatch a clutch of dragon eggs with magic, but this ended in failure.

Aegon's reign ended with his death from consumption in 157 AC, at the age of thirty-six. Many of his subjects thought him far older, on account of his youth having ended so abruptly. Aegon is not remembered fondly.

Legacy
Aegon III had several children, six in total:

With Jaehaera Targaryen


 * Shiera Targaryen (Secret daughter, smuggled out to oldtown to be married to House Greenfyre)

With Daenora Velaryon


 * Daeron I Targaryen
 * Baelor I Targaryen
 * Daena Targaryen
 * Rhaena Targaryen
 * Elaena Targaryen

Aegon III was succeeded by his fourteen-year-old son Daeron. After both Daeron and his successor Baelor died childless, Aegon's brother Viserys II was crowned king. Viserys was followed by his own son, Aegon IV Targaryen.

Although his sons died childless, Aegon's line did not discontinue altogether. Aegon's daughter, Daena the Defiant, had a bastard child, with her cousin, Prince Aegon, who eventually became known as the first Daemon Blackfyre and contested his cousin Daeron II Targaryen, the legitimate son of Aegon IV Targaryen, for the Iron Throne. Meanwhile, Princess Elaena Targaryen married three times, and gave birth to seven children in total. Her first two children were illegitimate, fathered by Lord Alyn Velaryon. Subsequently, Elaena married Lord Ossifer Plumm, by whom she had one child, Viserys Plumm - though the child was rumored to have been fathered by King Aegon IV. Next, she married Ronnel Penrose, by whom she had four children. Her third and final marriage, to Ser Michael Manwoody, was childless.