Aerys Targaryen: life and death, the legacy of the Mad King

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Aerys Targaryen: life and death, the legacy of the Mad King
Aerys Targaryen: life and death, the legacy of the Mad King

Video: Aerys Targaryen: life and death, the legacy of the Mad King

Video: Aerys Targaryen: life and death, the legacy of the Mad King
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George Martin did a really great job on his A Song of Ice and Fire series of novels, which formed the basis of one of the best series of all time called Game of Thrones. Each character, woven into the outline of the plot and not even being an active participant in the events described, is described in such detail that the reader or viewer will learn literally everything about him. Each character is interesting in its own way and, one way or another, influences events, even if he is no longer alive. One of these is Aerys Targaryen.

eiris targaryen
eiris targaryen

Nothing foretold trouble

When the king was not yet insane, he showed great promise as a ruler, wished to be remembered for centuries as great and wise. There were many incredible projects in his plans, such as another Wall, the construction of a canal in Dorne, which would turn the deserts into flowering lands, the construction of a new capital, and others that were not destined to come true, as the dreamy king soon forgot about them. Aerys Targaryen was friends withTywin Lannister and even made him his Hand. He also gradually replaced the people of his grandfather Aegon V in all key positions with his confidants, young and energetic. He also befriended another powerful lord, Steffon Baratheon.

From friendship to hate

Even at the beginning of his reign, Aerys was irritable and often angered. Over time, the situation began to deteriorate, as did his relationship with friend and Hand of Tywin. Long before this, the king had been partial to Lannister's cousin and wife Joanna, who at one time was a lady-in-waiting at court. In addition, rumors began to reach Targaryen that the subjects consider him a puppet, but in fact everything is run by the right hand. Even then, it became noticeable that the mental state of the king leaves much to be desired.

He went against Tywin in every way. That is why Aerys Targaryen was captured by the rebellious Lord Denis Darklyn of Duskdale, in whose captivity he was for almost half a year and was damaged by reason. After the king was rescued from captivity by Ser Barristan Selmy, he de alt ruthlessly with all the rebels. And after that, he made Tywin a personal enemy, canceling the intended marriage of his daughter Cersei to his son Rhaegar and making Jaime Lannister the royal guard, leaving the house of his right hand without an heir. Therefore, it is not surprising that Tywin resigned from his post and went to the ancestral castle.

game of thrones eiris targaryen
game of thrones eiris targaryen

Traitor or savior?

Aerys Targaryen became paranoid, he seemed to see conspiracies everywhere andenemies, he became a real madman and a cruel tyrant. His obsession with dragons and fire was terrifying and beyond all imaginable boundaries. He was surrounded by palmist alchemists and other dark personalities. When the eldest son of Aerys Rhaegar kidnapped Lyanna Stark, since his father married his son against his wishes to Elia Martell, Brandon Stark came to the king and demanded the return of his sister.

The mad Aerys captured the heir of the North and summoned his father Ricard to King's Landing, whom he burned alive in front of his son. Brandon himself strangled himself in an attempt to save his father. Then the houses of the Starks and Baratheons, as well as other families that joined them, raised a rebellion. Aerys Targaryen sent Rhaegar along with the royal guards to suppress him, but he developed a plan in case of emergency.

His reserves of Wildfire under the city would be enough to destroy the entire King's Landing if he lost. He didn't make it. When the elder Lannister took the capital, Jaime, who was in the personal guard of the king, stabbed him in the back, saving thousands of lives, and also helped Robert Baratheon to take the Iron Throne.

Rhaegar and Aerys Targaryen
Rhaegar and Aerys Targaryen

Aerys Targaryen's family and children

Prince Jaehaerys II, secretly from his father, married his sister Sheira. The witch prophesied to him that the promised prince Azor Ahai, the savior of mankind, should be born to the Targaryens, so he forced his son Aerys to marry his own elder sister Reyla at the age of fourteen. Naturally, there could be no talk of any love.

First babythem was born quite early, he was named Rhaegar. Rayla and Aerys were young, they had high hopes for the continuation of the Targaryen line, which was becoming less and less. But after Rhaegar, they did not have other children for a very long time, miscarriages followed one after another, the girl Shayna was born dead, her brothers, Prince Daeron, and a little later Prince Aegon, and then Jaehaerys did not even live to a year.

The second son who was able to successfully be born and grow up was Viserys. The mad king said that all this time his wife had been cheating on him, and therefore the children were dying, as they were conceived on the side. After that, he assigned observers to her and stopped sharing a bed with her, only sometimes, in fits of madness after another burning of someone suspected of treason, Aerys came to Rayla's bedroom and brutally raped her. On one of these nights, their last child was conceived. Daenerys was born nine months after the capture of King's Landing, on Dragonstone. Mother died in childbirth, Rhaegar and Aerys Targaryen had long been dead, besides her, brother Viserys remained alive - all that was left of the once strong house.

Aerys Targaryen's children
Aerys Targaryen's children

On screen

Although the Mad King was already dead at the beginning of the events in the book and the series, this character was supposed to be shown in the first season of Game of Thrones in a flashback. However, the footage with actor Liam Burke as Aerys was not included in the television version. However, the idea of introducing him to the audience returned only a few years later. Only in the sixth season of the series "GameThrones" Aerys Targaryen, already embodied by actor David Rintul, appeared in the vision of Bran Stark. Moreover, fans of the books were dissatisfied with what they saw, since according to the books, the Mad King looked terrifying before his death, with long tangled hair and a long beard, as he did not allow barbers to approach him, and his nails that had not been cut for a long time resembled animal claws. In the series, in this case, they decided to deviate from the book canons.

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