Quick answer: This Aegon V Targaryen family tree follows “Egg” and “the Unlikely,” the fourth son of King Maekar I who became the fifteenth Targaryen king (233–259 AC). He grew up as a squire to Ser Duncan the Tall, ruled as a reformer who protected the smallfolk, and died in the fire at Summerhall. He is Daenerys Targaryen’s great-grandfather. You can trace the line on our interactive Targaryen family tree.
Who Was Aegon V Targaryen?
Aegon V was born in 200 AC in King’s Landing and died in 259 AC at Summerhall. He is the rare Targaryen king who never expected to rule: as the fourth of Maekar I’s sons (and fifth of his children), he was far from the Iron Throne. That is where “the Unlikely” comes from. He married Betha Blackwood in 220 AC, and their five children are the bridge between the Dunk and Egg era and the Targaryens of Game of Thrones.
Egg’s Years on the Road with Dunk
Before he was a king, Egg was a boy squiring for a hedge knight, with his head shaved to hide the silver-gold Targaryen hair. In The Hedge Knight, he meets Ser Duncan the Tall at the Ashford Meadow tourney, passing himself off as a stable boy named Egg to see the world. The two travel on through The Sworn Sword, where Egg squires at Coldmoat, and The Mystery Knight, set at a wedding tourney at Whitewalls in 212 AC during the Second Blackfyre Rebellion. These are the stories HBO adapts in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms; our Knight of the Seven Kingdoms family tree shows where Egg fits. In 219 AC, Egg fought in the Third Blackfyre Rebellion alongside his father and his brother Aerion.
Dunk was not just a mentor. The hedge knight who stood trial at Ashford ended up as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard under the king he once squired for, and the two died in the same fire at Summerhall. The nickname “Egg” stayed with Aegon all his life, and it is the name Maester Aemon murmurs on his deathbed at the Wall in Game of Thrones (see Maester Aemon’s profile).
How Egg Became King
Three of Maekar’s four sons stood between Egg and the throne, and fate removed two of them. Daeron and Aerion both died before their father, leaving behind a daughter named Vaella and an infant son named Maegor. In 233 AC, Maekar I was killed at Starpike during the Peake Uprising, and the realm held a Great Council. Vaella was feeble-witted and Maegor was a baby. Some lords sneered that Egg was “half a peasant” because he had lived among the smallfolk, so the council approached his brother Aemon, who refused and urged them to crown Egg. Aegon was crowned at 33.
Maekar I ═ Dyanna Dayne
│
┌────────┬───┴────┬──────────┐
Daeron Aerion Aemon Aegon V
(died; (died; (maester; (Egg, king
left left refused 233-259 AC)
Vaella) Maegor) the crown)
│
Duncan, Jaehaerys II, Shaera,
Daeron, RhaelleFor the men in that diagram, see the profiles of Maekar I, Aerion Brightflame and Maester Aemon.
Aegon V’s Reforms — and Why the Nobles Hated Him
Aegon began his reign by arresting the Hand, Brynden Rivers (Bloodraven), for the murder of Aenys Blackfyre. Rivers was sentenced to death but allowed to take the black instead. Aegon sent aid to northmen starving in the long winter of 230–236 AC and crushed the Fourth Blackfyre Rebellion in 236 AC. His signature policy was to give the smallfolk rights and legal protections. The great lords felt their power over their peasants shrinking, and one of them called him a bloody-handed tyrant. Without dragons to force the issue, he often compromised.
The same instinct explains his interventions in the Westerlands. Three times Aegon stepped in because Lord Tytos Lannister was governing poorly, a rare case of a Targaryen king acting as a judge of his own vassals. Together, the reforms and the interventions show a ruler trying to rule by law rather than by fear of fire. It was a hard sell to lords who remembered what fire used to do, and it left Aegon with enemies in the great houses and loyalty among the smallfolk.
Aegon V’s Children and the Broken Betrothals
In 237 AC, Aegon and Betha arranged marriages for their children with the great houses, partly to end Targaryen incest and partly to win support for his reforms. It mostly backfired. His eldest son, Duncan, was betrothed to a Baratheon daughter, but in 239 AC he chose Jenny of Oldstones and gave up his place as heir. Storm’s End briefly rebelled before Aegon pardoned Lord Lyonel Baratheon. Jaehaerys, the second son and later King Jaehaerys II, was promised to Celia Tully but secretly married his sister Shaera in 240 AC, angering the Tullys and Tyrells. Daeron, the youngest son, broke his betrothal to Olenna Redwyne, never wed, and died in 251 AC. His daughter Rhaelle married Ormund Baratheon, making her Robert Baratheon’s grandmother.
The result was a string of repairs. The Baratheon match had to be patched with Rhaelle’s marriage, the Tully and Tyrell betrothals fell apart, and Jaehaerys married inside the family anyway. The betrothal scheme is the clearest example of Aegon V’s whole career: a decent idea, bold and forward-looking, that ran into the proud, self-interested nobles of the Seven Kingdoms.
In the Aegon V Targaryen family tree, the result matters for the whole Targaryen family tree. Jaehaerys II and Shaera became the parents of Aerys II, the Mad King, and Rhaella, which makes Aegon V the great-grandfather of Rhaegar, Viserys, and Daenerys. Through Rhaelle, he is also Robert Baratheon’s great-grandfather.
The Tragedy at Summerhall
Aegon V died in 259 AC at Summerhall, the Targaryen summer palace, while trying to hatch dragon eggs. The attempt ended in a fire that killed him, his son Duncan the Small, and Ser Duncan the Tall, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. Jaehaerys II succeeded him. The tragedy is why the throne passed so quickly to Aerys II and Rhaegar’s generation, and why the family’s dragon obsession never died. Rhaegar Targaryen was born in the same year, 259 AC, so the next generation grew up in the shadow of Summerhall. For the later fallout, see Aerys II Targaryen and Rhaegar Targaryen.
What Aegon V Left Behind
Aegon V’s legacy is mixed. His reforms for the smallfolk were ahead of their time, and his rule by law rather than fire made him one of the more humane Targaryen kings. But his plan to secure the dynasty through marriages failed, and his attempt to bring dragons back killed him. The dynasty that followed lost its most reform-minded king, and the throne soon passed to Aerys II.
FAQ
Why was Aegon V called “the Unlikely”?
He was the fourth son of Maekar I, so he was never meant to wear the crown. His brothers Daeron and Aerion died young, Aemon refused the throne, and the Great Council of 233 AC chose Egg as king.
Is Aegon V the same person as “Egg” from the Dunk and Egg stories?
Yes. Egg is his childhood nickname and the disguise he used while squiring for Ser Duncan the Tall. He later became King Aegon V.
How did Aegon V die?
He died in 259 AC in the fire at Summerhall, where he tried to hatch dragon eggs. His son Duncan the Small and Ser Duncan the Tall died with him.
Is Egg in Game of Thrones related to Daenerys?
Yes. Aegon V is Daenerys’s great-grandfather, through his son Jaehaerys II and grandson Aerys II. Maester Aemon, who appears in Game of Thrones, is Egg’s older brother.
Who were Aegon V’s children?
Duncan, Jaehaerys II, Shaera, Daeron, and Rhaelle. Duncan gave up his claim to marry Jenny of Oldstones, and Jaehaerys II and Shaera married each other.