Quick answer: Valarr Targaryen, known as “the Young Prince,” was the eldest son of Baelor Breakspear and Lady Jena Dondarrion, and the heir the realm was counting on after his father. He died in 209 AC of the Great Spring Sickness, along with his brother Matarys and their grandfather, King Daeron II. Their deaths scrambled the line of succession and cleared the road that eventually led to Aegon V.
The Heir’s Heir
By 209 AC the succession looked like the most secure thing in Westeros. King Daeron II, old and respected, would be followed by Baelor Breakspear, the finest prince of his generation, and after Baelor, by Valarr. Valarr’s mother was Lady Jena Dondarrion. He looked like his father but was shorter, slimmer and handsomer, with light brown hair streaked with silver-gold and blue eyes. His jousting was modest next to Baelor’s, though his royal rank kept him from facing dangerous opponents.
He barely gets a handful of lines in the novellas, and that is the point of him. The Dunk and Egg stories open in a world where everything is about to go wrong, and Valarr is the poster boy for the plan that died.
Valarr at Ashford Meadow
At the Ashford tourney of 209 AC, Valarr is one of the champions of the lists. By the book’s accounts he won at least nine jousts against lesser foes, including Abelar Hightower and Gawen Swann, and remained a champion after the first day. His most consequential contribution to the story comes in the Trial of Seven: Baelor fought in armor that had been made for his son, and the mace blow that killed him struck a helm that was not his own. For how that battle unfolded, see our guide to the trial, and for the man it ended, Dunk himself.
The Great Spring Sickness
The plague came the same year as Ashford and lingered into the next. The Great Spring Sickness of 209-210 AC swept the Seven Kingdoms and killed without regard for rank. King’s Landing was hit hardest, with roughly four in ten dead, and the bodies were burned at the Dragonpit. At the top of the tree it took:
| Victim | Who they were |
|---|---|
| King Daeron II | The reigning king, Daeron the Good |
| Prince Valarr | Eldest son of Baelor Breakspear; may also have served as Hand of the King (the sources are unclear) |
| Prince Matarys | Valarr’s younger brother |
The throne passed to Daeron II’s son Aerys I, with Brynden Rivers, later known as Bloodraven, as his Hand. The deaths of the Blackfyre hostages in the plague also left the Blackfyre faction feeling safer about rebelling again. Maekar took the crown only in 221 AC.
Marriage and Legacy
Valarr married Kiera of Tyrosh. They had sons, but all were stillborn. After Valarr’s death, Kiera married his cousin Daeron the Drunken, and their daughter Vaella was born in 222 AC. In that small way, the line Valarr should have carried continued through his widow, though not through his blood.
Why Valarr Matters More Than His Lines
The Dunk and Egg era is one long lesson in how succession actually works: not as a plan, but as a queue that plagues, tourneys and maces keep editing. Every reader who meets Egg knows how his story ends; Valarr is the reminder that nobody in 209 AC did. A king and two heirs fell in the same season, and a fourth son’s fourth son, Aegon V, ended up wearing the crown in 233 AC. You can see where Valarr sits, and the branch that should have carried the dynasty, on the interactive Targaryen family tree.
Valarr Targaryen at a Glance
| Detail | Record |
|---|---|
| Known as | “The Young Prince” |
| Parents | Baelor Breakspear and Lady Jena Dondarrion |
| Born | Uncertain; the sources allow a wide range, and he was probably a teenager in 209 AC |
| Spouse | Kiera of Tyrosh (later married his cousin Daeron) |
| Children | Sons, all stillborn |
| Died | 209 AC, of the Great Spring Sickness |
FAQ
Who was Valarr Targaryen?
“The Young Prince”: the eldest son of Baelor Breakspear and Lady Jena Dondarrion, grandson of Daeron II, and the heir the realm expected after his father. He died in 209 AC.
What was the Great Spring Sickness?
A plague that swept Westeros in 209-210 AC, killing tens of thousands, including King Daeron II and Baelor Breakspear’s sons Valarr and Matarys. King’s Landing was hit hardest.
How did Aegon V become king if he was a fourth son?
Through attrition. The Sickness (209 AC) took Daeron II and the direct heirs; Aerys I and then Maekar reigned; Maekar’s heir, Daeron the Drunken, died before him; and the Great Council of 233 AC chose Aegon, “the Unlikely.”
Did Valarr ever rule?
No. He died in the plague year, soon after his father Baelor, without taking the throne.
Is the Great Spring Sickness in the Dunk and Egg books?
It sits just offstage. The Hedge Knight is set in the plague year, and the realm that Dunk and Egg travel through afterward is one thinned by plague and war.