Quick answer: Nobody won — and Rhaenyra’s line won. Both claimants died horribly, all of Aegon II’s children died, and the dragons were nearly wiped out. But when the smoke cleared in 131 AC, the crown landed on Rhaenyra’s son, Aegon III — which means every Targaryen king afterward, all the way down to the Mad King, Rhaegar, and Daenerys, descends from the “losing” side. Here’s how it shook out on the family tree.
The Setup: Two Monarchs, One Throne
When Viserys I died in 129 AC, he left behind a named heir — his daughter Rhaenyra, who’d spent twenty years being presented to the realm as its future queen — and a freshly crowned king, his son Aegon II, elevated by the Hightowers before Rhaenyra even knew her father was dead.
Westeros split in two: the blacks for Rhaenyra, the greens for Aegon. Two years later, the realm had its answer. It just wasn’t the one anyone asked for.
The Scorecard: A War Where Winning Was Just Losing Slower
Let’s tally the “highlights,” because the body count is the entire point:
| Year | Blow | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| 129 AC | Lucerys (Rhaenyra’s son) killed over Storm’s End by Aemond | Greens strike first |
| 129 AC | Jaehaerys (Aegon II’s son) beheaded by Blood and Cheese | Blacks answer in kind |
| 129 AC | Rhaenys & Meleys killed at Rook’s Rest; Aegon II crippled | Greens pay full price |
| 130 AC | Daemon & Aemond kill each other over the God’s Eye | Both sides lose their best |
| 130 AC | Rhaenyra takes King’s Landing — then loses it to riots in months | Blacks win, then don’t |
| 130 AC | Rhaenyra fed to Sunfyre at Dragonstone | Greens “win” the war |
| 131 AC | Aegon II poisoned by his own council | Greens lose it right back |
Read that last row again. The man who fed his rival to a dragon was dead of poisoned wine within months, killed not by the enemy but by his own people, who’d correctly calculated that surrendering him was the only way out. Aegon II won the war the way you “win” a bar fight that puts you in a coma.
So the Greens Won?
They captured the capital, killed the rival claimant, and held the throne at the end. By the letter of it, yes. The maesters even wrote their histories that way — Aegon II is officially listed as the lawful king of 129–131 AC, and Rhaenyra is filed as a pretender. The winners write the history books, and for about six months, the greens were the winners.
Then the army of rivermen and northmen arrived to avenge Rhaenyra, found the king already dead, and crowned… Rhaenyra’s ten-year-old son.
The Family Tree Verdict
This is why we always say: when the history books disagree, check the tree. Here is the entire outcome of the Dance of the Dragons, one diagram:
Rhaenyra ═ Daemon Aegon II ═ Helaena
│ │
Aegon III ═══════ married ═══════ Jaehaera
(Rhaenyra's son) (Aegon II's daughter)
│
every later Targaryen king → ... → Aerys II → Rhaegar → Jon
→ DaenerysRhaenyra’s boy took the throne and married Aegon II’s surviving daughter to bind the wounds — and when Jaehaera died two years later, the green branch closed forever. Every subsequent Targaryen descends from Rhaenyra and Daemon. The blacks lost every battle that mattered and won the only prize that lasted: the future.
Oh, and the dragons? From roughly twenty living dragons when Viserys died, the war left four. The last dragon died during Aegon III’s reign — he’s remembered as “the Dragonbane” for it. If anyone truly won the Dance, it was gravity.
Why It Matters for the Rest of the Story
The Dance is the pivot of the whole dynasty. Before it: dragons, supremacy, three centuries of unchallenged rule stretching ahead. After it: a diminished house clinging to power without the beasts that made it untouchable — spiraling, across 150 years, toward a Mad King, a rebellion, and a girl hatching three eggs in a funeral pyre halfway across the world. The deaths, dates, and dominoes are all in our Targaryen death dates breakdown — and every name above is clickable on the interactive family tree.
FAQ
Did Rhaenyra or Aegon win the Dance of the Dragons?
Aegon II outlived Rhaenyra by about four months and is listed as the lawful king — but he was poisoned, his line went extinct, and Rhaenyra’s son Aegon III took the throne. History’s verdict: Aegon won the war, Rhaenyra won the succession.
How did the Dance of the Dragons end?
With Aegon II’s murder by his own council in 131 AC, followed by the coronation of Rhaenyra’s son Aegon III, who married Aegon II’s daughter Jaehaera to unify the factions.
How many dragons survived the Dance?
Four, from around twenty. The last dragon died in 153 AC during Aegon III’s reign, and the species wasn’t seen again until Daenerys hatched her three in 298 AC.
Who became king after the Dance of the Dragons?
Aegon III — Rhaenyra and Daemon’s son — crowned at age ten in 131 AC.
Does the Dance of the Dragons affect Game of Thrones?
Directly. Every Targaryen in the main series descends from Rhaenyra and Daemon — the Dance decided which branch of the family tree the next 150 years grew from.