Aemon Targaryen Family Tree Explained

Few things can challenge fans of the George R. R. Martin “A Song of Ice and Fire” as the family tree of the Targaryens – and for good reason. As shown in his books and the HBO series Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, the Targaryen clan was once vast and powerful. However, theirs propensity for incest and a civil war between the Targaryen factions leading to them being almost completely destroyed by the events of Game of Thrones. While House of Dragons has plenty of ferocious dragon-riding Targaryens, it’s a struggle to keep our egos straightthere are only a few Targaryens left two centuries later when Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) hatches three dragon eggs and brings back the dragons for the first time since the Civil War.

There is one Targaryen who saw not only the fall of the Targaryen dynasty at the hands of Robert Baratheon and his allies, but also the return of the dragons and the rise of the dreaded White Walkers predicted by the original ancient prophecy. handed down by the Targaryen kings: Aemon Targaryen, later and better known as Maester Aemon (played by the late Peter Vaughan in Game of Thrones). As a member of the Night’s Watch, he was separated from his family and many forgot that he was a Targaryen at all. This is how he connects with the rest of the clan, from his family to his warring ancestors to his brother’s descendants.

Some of Aemon’s family are set to appear in the upcoming Game of Thrones prequel, Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. based on Martin’s Dunk and Egg stories.. The “egg” in Dunk and Egg is young Aegon Targaryen (yes, another one), Aemon’s younger brother, who will one day ascend to the Iron Throne. He will be played by Dexter Saul Ansell in the series, which follows a young prince who travels through Westeros as a squire to a knight named Sir Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey). Find them really useful Arya and the Hound and you are on the right track.

We learn a lot more about Aegon’s younger brother, but Aemon also had two older brothers, Daeron “The Drunken” (Henry Ashton) and Erion “The Bright Flame” (Finn Bennett), as well as two younger sisters, Daela and Rae. Because he was a smart child and there were too many male Targaryens around, Aemon’s grandfather Daeron II Targaryen decided to send the boy to the citadel to be trained by a master. (His brother Aeg encountered him in the Old City during his adventures, where Aemon gave him a mule aptly named “Maestor”).

Their father, Maekar I (Sam Spruell), eventually became king, and their mother, Diana Dane, became queen. When Aemon completed his training in the citadel and became a maester, he chose to serve at the court of his brother Daeron in Dragonstone. Aemon comes from a long line of men who have lived and served at Dragonstone, including the great and terrible Rhaenyro and Daemon Targaryen.

Aemon and his siblings are direct descendants of Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (played by Emma D’Arcy in House of the Dragon) and her uncle-husband Damon (Matt Smith). The son of Rhaenyra and the Daemon Viserys II, who served as hand of the king to his brother Aegon III (also called “Aegon the Younger”), eventually became king himself. His eldest son, Aegon IV the Unworthy, had so many mistresses and bastards that there were five Blackfire Rebellions when those bastards tried to claim the throne for themselves, but eventually his (supposedly) legitimate son, Daeron II, ended up on the Iron Throne.

Daeron II is Aemon’s grandfather, so Rhaenyra and Daemon are his great-great-great-great-grandfather. As of House of the Dragon Season 2, his great-great-grandfather, Viserys II, is still a small child, though we may see more of him as the series progresses, especially when his brother Aegon III becomes king.

Although Aemon has taken the Citadel Oath and is not supposed to father children or marry as a maître, his family has offspring and he ends up with a niece and two nephews: Daenerys Targaryen, Viserys III Targaryen, and Aegon VII Targaryen, better known as Jon Snow.

Although Aemon had no children of his own, his brother Aegon V had three children: Rhaegar, Viserys III (Harry Lloyd) and Daenerys. Viserys died when Daenerys’ husband Hal Drogo (Jason Momoa) got the “golden crown,” but Daenerys almost conquered King’s Landing and reclaimed Westeros in Game of Thrones. One man in particular stood in her way: her lover, partner in battle, and nephew Jon Snow (Kit Harington).

Jon is Rhaegar’s only surviving child, named Aegon VII in the TV series. He is the child of Rhaegar and his mistress Lyanna Stark, raised by her brother Ned (Sean Bean) as his own bastard to protect the boy when the remaining Targaryens were hunted after Robert’s Rebellion. Meanwhile, Daenerys and Viserys were smuggled into the Aesos until they came of age for their protection, leading to Daenerys conquering most of the Aesos before turning her sights on Westeros. Jon eventually kills Dany to stop her from wreaking havoc in King’s Landing before heading back to Castle Black and the Wall where he was sent as a youth.

Castle Black is also where Aemon was able to speak with his great-nephew, however whether Aemon knew of Jon’s heritage is up for debate. in the end the Targaryen family tree is confusing without changing the child’s name to protect them, so who knows?

Maester Aemon was a maester at Castle Black and one of Lord Commander Jeor Mormont’s (James Cosmo) most trusted advisors. There, he cared for members of the Night’s Watch, who protect the people of Westeros from the wild animals (and other dangers) that live beyond the Wall. Jon Snow originally went there because he felt he had no real future anywhere else as a bastard, and he wanted to join his uncle Benjen, the first ranger of the Night’s Watch. Eventually, Aemon helps guide Jon Snow as he becomes Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch himself, ordering him to “kill the boy and let the man be born.”

But why did Aemon end up in Castle Black in the first place? After his father’s death and questions of succession, Aemon decided to take the blacks and serve at the Wall instead of being involved in any plots for the throne. He did not seek power and may have known that Egg would make a better king. Besides, he had already taken the Citadel oaths and didn’t want to go back to them.

It will be interesting to see what HBO is doing with “Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” and what an important role Eamonn plays as he’s largely absent from the Oldtown frame, but Dunk and Egg fans are sure to be delighted. Aemon is a great character who exists almost entirely on the sidelines but is connected to just about everyone.