Who is Egg? A Recent History of the Targaryens

Aemon: “That laugh! Egg! Egg laughed like that. one of the first things I remember.”
Sam (to Gilly): “His little brother. He became king.”
Aemon: “And before that he was a jolly fellow! Like this one.”

Game of Thrones never made a secret of the fact that Maester Aemon had a storied past—the man could have become a King, but instead he became a Maester and went to the Wall, despite having committed no crime, for the good of his family. But though we’ve heard dribs and drabs about Aemon Targaryen and his fortunes, this season is the first time the show has made direct references to “Egg.” Who exactly is “Egg,” the man, as Sam notes, who became king, and who Aemon speaks of with such fondness?

For the answers to that we must go back to recent Targaryen history. “Egg,” as Aemon explains, is short for “Aegon” who was his little brother. He is also the star of Martin’s spin off short story series “Tales of Dunk and Egg” of which there are three so far, with more allegedly on the way.

Aegon was an unlikely king, the fourth son of a fourth son. His father, Maekar I, never thought he would sit upon the Iron Throne, and in fact married a girl from the secondary House Dayne. When a combination of the Blackfyre Rebellions, madness, plagues, and ill-luck killed off the older heirs, Maekar ascended to the throne in 221 AC.

Aegon was 21 at the time, having been born in 200 AC. Aemon, his older brother by two years, was born in 198 AC. To place it within the context of our current story, what would come to be known as “Robert’s Rebellion” occurred in 282 AC. About ten years before Maekar ascended the throne, Aegon became a squire for Duncan the Tall, a tale recounted in the Dunk and Egg story “The Hedge Knight.” Because his father was a mere prince and fourth in line to the throne at the time, it was deemed okay for Aegon to spend his time like this, although it likely would have been different if anyone had expected him to become someone of importance. Duncan believed that letting Aegon experience the life of an entry-level squire would provide him with a valuable education, and make him a better man than his older brothers, Daeron and Aerion. It was also why he was allowed to refuse to marry his sister Daella, as originally intended. Instead Egg married Bertha of the secondary House Blackwood. He married for love, much as his father had done.

Aemon, the third in line, was sent off to the Cidadel, since it was felt there were too many possible heirs running around once Maekar took the throne. Aegon was not sent away, but merely not thought very much of, since there were already two older brothers with issue ahead of him. Free to do as he pleased, Aegon went on to have five children of his own during his father’s twelve-year reign. Unfortunately, during that time, his older brother Daeron died of the pox at Dragonstone. Meanwhile, Aerion mistook himself for a dragon in human form, and killed himself by drinking a cup of wildfire. (He thought it would turn him into a dragon. Not so much.)

With Aemon now a Maester, and Aegon considered by most to be “half a peasant” due to his time as Dunk’s squire, a Great Council was called to consider who to pass the crown to—Daemon’s half witted daughter, Aerion’s minor son, Aemon, or Aegon. When the council offered the crown to Aemon, he famously refused, and told them that Aegon was the better choice. Aegon was crowned Aegon V in 233 AC. His first act was to arrest and send to the Wall his father’s former Hand of the King, Brynden “Bloodraven” Rivers, for killing off a Blackfyre pretender after promising him safe passage and a seat on the Great Council. Since Rivers’ act actually benefited the Targaryen house, he was sent to the Wall, along with most of his personal guard, who pledged to Take the Black with him. This is what prompted Aemon to also take the black, though he had not been involved with the plot, nor was he guilty of any crimes. His concern that someone might use him in a plot to usurp his brother troubled him, as did the idea that one day he could be asked again to reign. Duncan the Tall was among the guards who traveled with the party to the Wall, where Rivers eventually became Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch.

Aegon (now known as Aegon the Unlikely), probably could have used Aemon’s wisdom in King’s Landing, despite his brother’s noble intentions. Although Aemon left Aegon with the same words he would utter to Jon Snow decades upon decades later (“It takes a man to rule. An Aegon, not an Egg. Kill the boy and let the man be born,”), Aegon was never that good at ruling. He attempted to make matches for four of his children that would have seen them marry into the Great Houses of the time—notably, his son Daeron was set marry a young Olenna Tyrell. But all four of his children refused, leading to broken engagements and disastrous consequences. Prince Duncan threw his Baratheon bride-to-be over for a peasant girl known as Jenny of Oldstones, while Daeron passed on Olenna because…well, it turned out that Daeron was of Loras’ leanings, which might explain why Olenna is neither surprised nor horrified by such relationships. Meanwhile, prospective fiances from the Houses Tully and Tyrell were abandoned by son Jaehaerys and daughter Shaera respectively, in favor of an incestuous brother-to-sister marriage they both insisted on. (It was a tradition Aegon found distasteful, but once consummated, he couldn’t argue about it.)

With all the unrest in the Kingdoms, Aegon became obsessed with restoring dragons to the world, believing that the only path to respect and loyalty was to have such creatures by his side. This obsession ended up taking over his life. Twenty-six years into his rule, he died in a huge fire he set while attempting to crack the dragon’s egg he had received as a gift when he was born. It was known as the tragedy of Summerhall, and it not only cost the King his life, but also the lives of his ever-faithful knight, Ser Duncan the Tall, and Prince Duncan, his oldest son and heir. These sorts of incidents are why when Dany decided to walk into the fire with her dragon’s eggs, most, including Jorah, assumed she would not survive. After all, Targaryens had been doing crazy stuff like this for generations, and all of them had died.

Jaehaerys ascended the throne after his father died, with his son Aerys as his heir. Jaehaerys insisted on a brother-sister match between his son and his daughter Rhaella, after being told that from their line would be born “The Prince That Was Promised.” Rhaegar Targaryen, who would go on to kidnap Lyanna Stark and start the war known as Robert’s Rebellion, was born on the day of the tragedy of Summerhall in 259 AC. His brother Viserys would be born in 276 AC and sister Daenerys in 284 AC. Jaehaerys’ reign would only last three years, he died of a sudden illness. In 262 AC, Aerys II ascended the throne. He would would come to be known as The Mad King.

And, well, we all know how that went.

• Published on 05/27/2015 at 11:00 AM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 1:04 PM CDT