<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
Left to Right: Paddy Considine, Sian Brooke, Michael Carter, Steve Toussant, and Eve Best<\/figcaption>Image: Ollie Upton\/HBO Max<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\nOne of the most powerful houses in the entire Game of Thrones<\/em><\/span> saga, the Targaryens, is a big, twisted family. Rife with infighting and overflowing with disparate dramas and tangled backstories, they’re the ideal focus for HBO’s new series House Of The Dragon<\/em><\/span>, which takes place 200 years before the original show. Though the Targaryens control the Iron Throne in House Of The Dragon<\/em>various family members are fighting over which of them will succeed as ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, seemingly one of the most popular pastimes in all of Westeros.<\/p>\nTo help sort out the key names and faces in the new show, we’ve put together a handy guide to the main players and the most prominent branches of the complex Targaryen family tree. Not surprisingly, this is a bit more complicated than your average genealogical history, in part because the Targaryens traditionally consider incest<\/em> to be no big deal (got to keep that dragon blood pure, you know). That practice is probably why Targaryens tend to go mad once a generation or so (as the saying goes, \u201cWhen a Targaryen is born, the gods flip a coin…\u201d), provided they even live long enough to reach adulthood. Those who survive and manage to keep it together can be quite formidable, though. <\/p>\nNote that some of this information is based on what we know from George RR Martin’s books, and is always subject to change in the show. We’ll have to wait and see how they compare when House Of The Dragon<\/em> premieres on HBO on August 21.<\/p>\nKing Jaehaerys I, “The Old King”<\/h2>\n
Crowned at the age of 14, Jaehaerys Targaryen had the longest and most peaceful reign of any Targaryen king. He married his sister Alysanne and together they had 14 children, though only nine would survive into adulthood, and only two would outlive him. Near the end of his life, with no clear heir apparent, he puts together a Great Council to decide which of his descendants will succeed him. The vote comes down in favor of his grandson, Viserys. Not everyone is pleased with this choice, however. In his old age, Jaehaerys (played on the show by Michael Carter; that’s him on the throne in the image above) becomes reliant on his Hand, Ser Otto Hightower, and Lord Hightower’s daughter Alicent, who is at his bedside when he dies ( this will be important later).<\/p>\n
\n
\n
G\/O Media may get a commission<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n