Quick answer: This Aerys II Targaryen family tree maps the Mad King, who ruled from 262 to 283 AC and was the last Targaryen to sit the Iron Throne. He was the son of Jaehaerys II and Shaera, the husband of his sister Rhaella, and the father of Rhaegar, Viserys, and Daenerys. He was killed by his own Kingsguard knight, Jaime Lannister, during the Sack of King’s Landing. Find him on the interactive Targaryen family tree.
Who Was the Mad King?
Aerys II Targaryen was born in 244 AC and became king in 262 AC. His early reign was active and promising, and Tywin Lannister served as his Hand. By the end, he was paranoid, obsessed with fire, and dangerous to everyone around him. He is the grandson of Aegon V and the grandfather of Jon Snow, and his reign is where the Targaryen dynasty broke.
Aegon V
└─ Jaehaerys II ═ Shaera
└─ Aerys II ═ Rhaella (his sister)
├─ Rhaegar ═ Lyanna Stark ─ Jon Snow
├─ Viserys
└─ DaenerysThe Defiance of Duskendale
The turning point is the Defiance of Duskendale. In 277 AC, Lord Denys Darklyn asked the king for a charter for Duskendale, and Aerys went there against Tywin’s advice. Darklyn took him prisoner, and the king was held for about six months before Ser Barristan Selmy rescued him. Aerys then destroyed House Darklyn and its allies. Afterward, he stayed in the Red Keep for years, his paranoia grew, and he came to distrust his Hand, Tywin, and his own son, Rhaegar.
Known: The captivity at Duskendale and the years of paranoia that followed. Unknown: Whether the Mad King was ever “mad” in a clinical sense, or whether the books simply show a frightened tyrant. Characters disagree about the cause.
“Burn Them All”: Fire and the Starks
Aerys became fixated on dragonfire and wildfire, and by about 280 AC he was executing people by burning them. Wisdom Rossart, a pyromancer who carried out fire executions, was later named to the small council. The darkest chapter came in 282 AC. After Rhaegar disappeared with Lyanna Stark, Aerys summoned Rickard Stark and his heir Brandon to King’s Landing. Rickard demanded trial by combat, and Aerys named fire as his champion. Rickard was burned to death in the throne room while Brandon was forced to watch and strangled himself trying to reach him.
The king then ordered Jon Arryn to send him the heads of Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon. Arryn refused and raised his banners, which started Robert’s Rebellion. Aerys’s marriage to Rhaella was unhappy, too, and in his last years he confined her in Maegor’s Holdfast, one more sign of how isolated and controlling he had become.
Aerys and His Hands
You can read the whole reign through the men who served as Hand. Tywin Lannister held the office from the start of the reign and helped make Aerys’s early years successful, but as the king’s distrust grew, Tywin resigned around the time of the Harrenhal tourney. Owen Merryweather replaced him, and Qarlton Chelsted became Hand after Jon Connington was exiled for losing the battle at Stoney Sept. Varys joined as master of whisperers, and Rossart, the fire-loving alchemist, took a seat on the small council. By the end, the king’s court was a collection of men afraid of him, which explains why so few of them tried to stop him.
Rhaegar’s Plan to Replace His Father
Rhaegar knew his father was a danger. In the books, the tourney at Harrenhal in 281 AC, where he crowned Lyanna Stark the queen of love and beauty, also gathered the realm’s lords, and Ser Barristan and others say Rhaegar meant to use the gathering to confront or replace the king. Aerys, who by then trusted nobody, saw his son as a rival. The plan was never carried out, and a year later Rhaegar’s disappearance with Lyanna gave the king his reason to strike at the Starks.
For the other side of that story, read Rhaegar Targaryen and the explainer on Jon Snow’s family tree.
The Sack of King’s Landing
When Robert’s Rebellion reached its climax, Aerys had wildfire caches placed under King’s Landing, planning to burn the city if it fell. Qarlton Chelsted, his Hand, resigned in protest and was burned alive. When Tywin Lannister’s army arrived at the gates and the city was opened to them, Ser Jaime Lannister, one of the king’s own Kingsguard, killed the pyromancer Rossart and then Aerys in the Red Keep, stopping the plan. That act made him the Kingslayer. Aerys’s last order, as Jaime tells it, was the one he is remembered for: burn them all.
What Happened to His Family
Rhaegar died at the Trident in 283 AC. Viserys and the pregnant Rhaella escaped to Dragonstone, where Daenerys was born in 284 AC while Rhaella died giving birth. The family’s story then moves to Essos, where Viserys and Daenerys grow up in exile. See the full line in Daenerys Targaryen and the Game of Thrones Targaryen family tree.
FAQ
Why did the Mad King go mad?
No one source gives a single cause. The books point to the six months he spent imprisoned in Duskendale, followed by years of growing paranoia and an obsession with fire. Fan theories about inbreeding are just that, theories.
How is the Mad King related to Daenerys?
He is her father. Aerys II and his sister Rhaella had Rhaegar, Viserys, and Daenerys.
What were Aerys’s last words?
The line attributed to him is “burn them all,” as Jaime Lannister recalls the day he killed him in the Red Keep.
How long did Aerys II reign?
Aerys II ruled for 21 years, from 262 AC to 283 AC. He was the 17th and last Targaryen to rule from the Iron Throne.
Who killed the Mad King?
Ser Jaime Lannister, a member of his own Kingsguard, killed him during the Sack of King’s Landing in 283 AC. The act earned Jaime the nickname “Kingslayer.”
Why did Aerys burn Rickard and Brandon Stark?
After Rhaegar disappeared with Lyanna Stark, Aerys summoned Rickard and his heir Brandon to King’s Landing. When Rickard demanded trial by combat, Aerys chose fire as his champion and burned him alive. Brandon died trying to save him.