Maegor the cruel

This raises the question: why was the third Targaryen king remembered as the proverbial tyrant in Game of Thrones? Aenys was always regarded as the heir apparent although he was quite frail, whereas Maegor was a skilled swordsman from a young age. Visenya gifted him the Valyrian steel sword, Dark Sisterand Aegon knighted him at the age maegor the cruel sixteen the youngest at that time, maegor the cruel. When Aegon died in 37 AC, Aenys ascended the throne.

George R. Martin created an extensive history for his fictional world that inspired Game of Thrones. Throughout the story, the history is referenced, making it feel as real as a world with dragons can. And in the years since, the history has become its own story. Many Game of Thrones projects are in the works , including the story of the first Targaryen King, Aegon the Conqueror. As the history of Westeros makes it to screens, there are many moments worth seeing as the country faced many conflicts, but one that hasn't been discussed is the story of Maegor the Cruel.

Maegor the cruel

Maegor was the only son of Aegon the Conqueror by his sister-wife Visenya and the half-brother of Aenys I. Unlike his half-brother, Maegor was more like his father and grew up to become a strong warrior, being knighted by his father at age sixteen, the youngest at the time; even before then, Maegor was besting knights much older than he was. His mother gave him Dark Sister upon his knighthood. Unlike his brother, he refused to bond with any dragon other than Balerion , as he considered the Black Dread as the only dragon worthy of him, and waited for his father to die to bond with the beast. He intended to marry his niece Rhaena Targaryen, only for the High Septon to propose his niece Ceryse Hightower instead, but the marriage proved to be infertile, this caused him to seek other brides. Upon his half-brother Aenys' ascension to the Iron Throne, the Faith of the Seven launched a major uprising against the Targaryen dynasty. Whilst they accepted Aegon on the throne due to his strength and his conversion to the Faith, they could not stomach the thought of his sons, born of incest, following him. For this, his brother named him Hand of the King and even gave him Blackfyre itself, the sword that once belonged to their royal father. This proved to be a good move on the king's part, as Aenys proved too weak and indecisive to handle the string of crises that awaited his reign. The reveal that he had wedded Alys Harroway while still married forced his brother to exile him to placate the Faith, leaving his wife Ceryse behind.

When his nephew Aegon challenged him for the Throne, he killed Aegon and his dragon Quicksilver in a brief battle above the God's Eye. Maegor craved violence, while Aegon did not, and Maegor was eventually hated by the people of Westeros - Aegon, at least, maegor the cruel, was loved and remembered as a great man who forged the foundations of a dynasty that his descendants would rule after him. The dynamic among Maegor's many wives and how they feel towards Maegor, who is responsible for the death of several of their first husbands, would lend maegor the cruel to plenty of drama.

As his moniker suggests, he is known as one of the most tyrannical kings to ever rule the Seven Kingdoms. King Aegon the Conqueror had two children by his two sister-wives: his firstborn son Aenys with his sister Queen Rhaenys , and his second-born son Maegor with his sister Queen Visenya Targaryen. The Targaryens had incestuously married brother to sister for generations whenever possible to "keep the bloodline pure", in the custom of their Valyrian ancestors. For that matter, Aegon I broke not only the Faith's rules against incest, but its rules against polygamy , as he was married to both of his sisters at the same time. The Faith wasn't in much position to challenge the victorious Targaryen army after the Conquest, or their massive dragons , but Aegon I was wise enough to tread lightly with the Faith: both sides tacitly agreed that the Targaryens' incestuous marriages were a relic of their past, which would soon fade.

George R. Martin created an extensive history for his fictional world that inspired Game of Thrones. Throughout the story, the history is referenced, making it feel as real as a world with dragons can. And in the years since, the history has become its own story. Many Game of Thrones projects are in the works , including the story of the first Targaryen King, Aegon the Conqueror. As the history of Westeros makes it to screens, there are many moments worth seeing as the country faced many conflicts, but one that hasn't been discussed is the story of Maegor the Cruel. Westeros has no shortage of terrible kings. From the Mad King to the indecisive Viserys Paddy Considine , many were ill-prepared to rule, but Maegor Targaryen far outweighed the rest.

Maegor the cruel

Maegor was the only son of Aegon the Conqueror by his sister-wife Visenya and the half-brother of Aenys I. Unlike his half-brother, Maegor was more like his father and grew up to become a strong warrior, being knighted by his father at age sixteen, the youngest at the time; even before then, Maegor was besting knights much older than he was. His mother gave him Dark Sister upon his knighthood. Unlike his brother, he refused to bond with any dragon other than Balerion , as he considered the Black Dread as the only dragon worthy of him, and waited for his father to die to bond with the beast. He intended to marry his niece Rhaena Targaryen, only for the High Septon to propose his niece Ceryse Hightower instead, but the marriage proved to be infertile, this caused him to seek other brides. Upon his half-brother Aenys' ascension to the Iron Throne, the Faith of the Seven launched a major uprising against the Targaryen dynasty. Whilst they accepted Aegon on the throne due to his strength and his conversion to the Faith, they could not stomach the thought of his sons, born of incest, following him. For this, his brother named him Hand of the King and even gave him Blackfyre itself, the sword that once belonged to their royal father. This proved to be a good move on the king's part, as Aenys proved too weak and indecisive to handle the string of crises that awaited his reign.

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Thus, the birth of Aenys's own children pushed Maegor even further back in the line of succession, as by the normal laws of Westeros an uncle only inherits after his elder brother's entire bloodline is extinguished. Aenys I Targaryen. The king became known as a kinslayer throughout the realm for killing one of his own. As the Faith Militant attacked lords that still supported him across the Seven Kingdoms, one particularly zealous force of the order even managed to scale the walls of the still under construction Red Keep , and would have killed Aenys and the royal family if not for the intervention of the Kingsguard. Maegor was his brother's exact opposite: a highly skilled warrior and brutal tyrant, quickly earning him the name "Maegor the Cruel". Septa Mordane : " Do you remember your lessons? Supposedly, the Throne judged him unworthy and impaled him. Aenys was always regarded as the heir apparent although he was quite frail, whereas Maegor was a skilled swordsman from a young age. Maegor Targaryen. Elinor Costayne Black Bride Deceased. This was not technically considered to be part of the Faith Militant uprising, however, because the Faith was also particularly upset about Aegon's incestuous marriage to his own sister. With around seventy years having passed since Maegor's death, Princess Rhaenys Targaryen and Lord Corlys Velaryon discuss how his reign, now a lifetime ago, was the most recent great war in the Seven Kingdoms, and how the knights competing at the Heir's Tournament have never truly seen battle. Maegor responded by declaring that the Iron Throne will go to the man who has the strength to seize it before beheading Gawen with a single swing of Blackfyre, and no one else spoke a word against him - many feeling that Aenys' young children could not handle the Faith Militant as Maegor could. They hoped that their surrender might gain them mercy, but Maegor ordered them all hanged regardless. He also began the construction of the Dragonpit, but the massive fleeing of builders and stonemasons from the city forced him to use criminals from the dungeons, working under the supervision of builders from Tyrosh and Myr.

This raises the question: why was the third Targaryen king remembered as the proverbial tyrant in Game of Thrones? Aenys was always regarded as the heir apparent although he was quite frail, whereas Maegor was a skilled swordsman from a young age.

King Aenys proved to be an utter weakling in the face of the revolt and was completely overwhelmed. Maegor now demanded the complete destruction of the Faith Militant, and made war upon the order wherever he found it. Prince Aegon rode Quicksilver into battle against Maegor riding Balerion - the first time two dragons had fought each other since before the Doom of Valyria. Duncan the Tall Egg. Rather than wear his brother's ostentatiously large golden crown, which is inlaid with the faces of the Seven , Maegor wore their father's crown - a circlet of Valyrian steel with seven square-cut rubies set in it - symbolically asserting his status as his father's true heir now possessing his father's crown, sword, and dragon. Jeyne Westerling Black Bride Deceased. Exploring Maegor's reign could add depth to the fantasy world. He was succeeded by Jaehaerys, who became the longest reigning king on the Iron Throne. He used the mighty Balerion to incinerate any rebel forces that opposed him. Maegor was widely the polar opposite of his father, even though they were both peerless warriors. Even then, two of his new wives Jeyne and Elinor only bore him stillborn monsters, each of which greatly distressed him, and he descended into genuine madness. Episode 2. What demon possessed him none could say.