The history of House Targaryen was always one of glorious success and majestic achievements (of that there can be no doubt), but sadly, tragedy and ignobility often overshadowed any sense of pride, happiness or joy that many of its members could have obtained from their conquests and triumphs.
Perhaps of this there can be no greater example or proof than the terrible war between brothers and sisters, cousins, uncles and nieces, aunts and nephews (and other kinds of blood relations) that the bards and singers dared to call the "Dance of the Dragons". Certainly, the scars, the mourning, and the devastation that were brought to the realm by that misnamed "Dance" are still being felt even one hundred and thirty-five years after its conclusion.
But, who is, or who are, responsible for such a catastrophe? Is it possible to identify with certainty a point of origin? Was the Dance inevitable?
The reader will surely have heard the most famous and infamous rumors and supposed records, stories, and chronicles that emerged and were written once that horrible war ended: it was the frivolous ambition of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and her foolish desire to be the first queen of Westeros, without caring that such a thing would mean defying not only countless centuries of tradition, but also recent antecedents; it was the envy that Queen Alicent Hightower felt towards the Realm's Delight that led her to conspire and devise the most evil plans and schemes with the intention of seeing her son crowned instead of her stepdaughter; it was the folly and stupidity of King Viserys I in refusing to clarify the royal line of succession once his son was born, and his constant need to ignore the most honest and sound counsel of his advisers concerning his second marriage; it was the perverse lust and thirst for power of Prince Daemon Targaryen that led him to seduce his young and innocent niece and take up arms against the beloved son of his older brother, who all his life was extremely tolerant with him and his unworthy actions; it was the greedy prince Aegon, who, driven by his hatred for his noble but naive sister, decided to take advantage of the uncertainty and confusion that arose as a result of his father's death to crown himself king; it was the other members of the court who, fearful of the dragons under the control of the royal family, decided to ignite the first sparks of the great fire that would consume much of the Seven Kingdoms; it was the gods themselves (old and new) who, seeing the arrogance and prosperity of House Targaryen, decided to humble them to remind them that we mortals are nothing but the playthings of their divine will.
It is important to remember, however, that all these conjectures and suppositions come from different sources and authors, who, most assuredly, decided to write their own version of the true events that occurred during that dark period, guided by their different interests and resentments.
For this reason, this work aims to carefully analyze each one of the different narratives mentioned above, in search of the truth (if it is possible to extract the truth after so many years already passed) and a better understanding of the motives of those men and women who, for better or for worse, ended up leaving an indelible mark on the history of the realm.
With this in mind, perhaps it is better to go back not to the reign of Viserys I, but to that of his grandfather and direct predecessor: Jaehaerys I, called by some and others the Conciliator or the Old King.
Jaehaerys I (born in the year 34 of the Conquest) and his sister-wife, Queen Alysanne Targaryen (born in the year 36), sired numerous children (thirteen, to be exact) over a period of almost thirty years, although a great number of them (princes Aegon, Vaegon, Gaemon and Valerion, and princesses Daenerys and Maegelle) failed or did not wish to produce any offspring. Those who did, however, marked the path, in the opinion of this author, that would eventually lead to the bloody final destiny of the Dance.
Prince Aemon (born in the year 55 of the Conquest), was the third child and the second son of King Jaehaerys, but the first of these to reach adulthood. In Year 70 of the Conquest, the prince married his half-aunt, Lady Jocelyn Baratheon (daughter of Rogar Baratheon, Lord of Storm's End, and Lady Alyssa Velaryon, mother of King Jaehaerys and Queen Alysanne). Their union proved to be a happy and prosperous one, though not very fertile; they only had a single child: Princess Rhaenys Targaryen.
The brave Prince Baelon (born in the year 57 of the Conquest), also known as the Spring Prince, married his strong and willful sister, Princess Alyssa (born in the year 60 of the Conquest). Their loving and passionate union managed to produce three children: the princes Viserys, Daemon and Aegon.
The small and gentle princess Daella (born in the year 64 of the Conquest), the queen's "little flower," chose Lord Rodrik Arryn of the Eyrie as her husband, the product of their union being Lady Aemma Arryn, future queen of the realm thanks to her marriage to her cousin, Prince Viserys.
The beautiful princess Viserra (born in the year 71 of the Conquest) was originally betrothed to Lord Theomore Manderly of White Harbor. However, the arrangement was not to the liking of the princess, who, in an attempt to enjoy one last "night of laughter" before traveling to the North, nearly died in an accident while riding at high speed through the streets of King's Landing. The incident left her bedridden for a couple of moons, with a sizable scar across her pleasant face as a reminder of how close she had come to meeting her death on that unfortunate occasion. After her recovery (following long and heated discussions between her and her royal parents, according to most contemporary sources), her betrothal to Lord Manderly was called off and the princess was instead betrothed to Borros Baratheon, the boy heir of Storm's End and her half-cousin. Such union would produce four sons (known to some as the "Four Storms") and a single daughter: Orys, Davos, Rogar, Boremund, and Jocelyn.
Lastly, the sweet but shy Princess Gael (born in the year 80 of the Conquest) was betrothed to her nephew, Prince Aegon, the third son of her elder siblings. The marriage, which was celebrated and consummated in the year 100 of the Conquest, produced only one child (born after a delicate and difficult pregnancy and a terribly complicated labor): Princess Alyssa Targaryen, named after grandmother.
So it was that, through the unprecedented expansion of House Targaryen, the seeds of the most terrible war Westeros would ever experience were planted, though many at the time surely could not have even imagined it...