Targaryen madness

Like some of his forebears, King Aerys II Targaryen succumbed to the Targaryen madness. © Goran Gligovic

According to some beliefs, House Targaryen carries the trait for insanity in its bloodline, often referred to as madness.

About

Some Targaryens appear to be born mad. Others may not display madness when they are younger but can develop it as the years go by, especially when circumstances encourage it, such the Defiance of Duskendale which affected Aerys II Targaryen very deeply.

Daenerys's brother Viserys is said to have inherited the inclination for madness from his father. Illyrio said this to Tyrion Lannister:

Viserys was Mad Aerys' son, just so.

Ser Barristan Selmy had a notion of this "taint" and chose to observe Daenerys Targaryen in the guise of Arstan Whitebeard, to make sure she did not display any sign of this "taint" before revealing himself and pledging his sword to her. When he says that he can see no taint in her, Daenerys bristles. Ser Barristan tries to explain diplomatically what he means by saying to Daenerys:

I am no maester to quote history at you, Your Grace. Swords have been my life, not books. But every child knows that the Targaryens have always danced too close to madness. Your father was not the first. King Jaehaerys once told me that madness and greatness are two sides of the same coin. Every time a new Targaryen is born, he said, the gods toss the coin in the air and the world holds its breath to see how it will land.

Up until this point Daenerys Targaryen was aware that her father was called The Mad King - but she thought that it was a lie. She had no idea the extent of her father’s insanity or that this trait ran in House Targaryen.

This new-found knowledge of the alleged madness in her bloodline concerns her. After hearing and seeing Quaithe standing under the persimmon tree, in the terrace of the Great Pyramid, she thinks about Ser Barristan Selmy's warning that in the blood of the dragon there is a taint. She wonders briefly to herself if she is going mad. However, she most likely did see a reflection of Quaithe cast with the help of a glass candle, used by her for communication and clairvoyance.

The Targaryen propensity for madness is known in Essos. Although he is relying on rumor the Windblown's Books thinks Daenerys Targaryen both murderous and mad, saying that her father was mad too, stating:

It runs in the blood.

This comment worries Prince Quentyn Martell as he is all too aware of the madness than runs in the Targaryen line. Quentyn thinks to himself that King Aerys II had been mad, all of Westeros knew. He had exiled two of his hands and burned the third. Quentyn has his apprehensions about Daenerys's personality, and worries:

If Daenerys is as murderous as her father, must I still marry her?

Prince Doran had never spoken of that possibility to Quentyn.

In Westeros, during a small council meeting in the Red Keep's throne room concerning the Targaryen pretender, Kevan Lannister mentions that there is a second Targaryen, and one whose blood no man can question: Daenerys Stormborn. Mace Tyrell immediately declares she is,

As mad as her father.

Ser Kevan replies that mad she may be, but with so much smoke drifting west, surely, there must be some fire burning in the east.

Much later Arianne Martell’s thoughts turn to the distant dragon queen Daenerys Targaryen - the Targaryen whom her father is pinning his hopes on. The woman whose brother died in front of her, killed by her Dothraki husband who crowned him with a pot of molten gold while she watched and did nothing to save him, all that remained to her of her own blood. Arianne remarks to Ser Daemon Sand that,

"She is the Mad King's daughter," … "How do we do know --"

Ser Daemon gives Arianne an honest reply,

"We cannot know," ... "We can only hope." [that Daenerys does not have the taint]

Dreams and dragons

The Targaryen's prophetic dragon dreams could also try the sanity of the dreamer, also the yearning for bringing dragons back to life. Aerion Targaryen died drinking a cup of wildfire, believing it would transform him into a dragon.

Cases

Aerion Targaryen

Prince Aerion Targaryen was considered mad. He believed he was a dragon in human form and was cruel and capricious. There were also fears at the Great Council of 233 AC that his son Prince Maegor may have inherited his father's madness, although he was only a baby at the time.

Aerys II Targaryen

"Aerys was mad, the whole realm knew it." - by Pojypojy ©

King Aerys II Targaryen was known as "the Mad King."

Although the Defiance of Duskendale was considered by some that turning point that drove Aerys II mad, he had displayed warning signs for years before. Maester Yandel writes that by late 276 AC, it was clear that he was already sliding rapidly into madness, while the Defiance of Duskendale pushed him irrevocably over the edge. Before this, Aerys's behavior grew increasingly erratic as the years passed. Throughout the 260s, he was prone of grandiose schemes that were quickly forgotten. As Aerys became more erratic, much of the running of the realm fell to his Hand of the King. Nonetheless, at this point Aerys's capricious nature was not considered an ominous sign, as many of his forebears had shown similar behavior without great concern. According to Barristan Selmy, because Aerys was charming and generous in his youth, his lapses were forgiven, but over time the lapses grew more frequent.

In the 270s, however, he became increasingly erratic, violent, and suspicious. The progression of his madness seemed to cease with the birth of a son, Prince Jaehaerys, in 274 AC, but when the child died that same year, Aerys plunged into a deep despair. He had several people tortured and killed for the supposed murder of his son. The birth of another son, Viserys Targaryen, in 276 AC only made Aerys even more fearful and obsessive. He displayed extreme paranoia, forbidding even the child's mother, Queen Rhaella Targaryen, from being alone with him and having all the gifts for the prince burned.

The half a year of imprisonment at Duskendale in 277 AC shattered Aerys's remaining sanity and his madness grew with each passing year thereafter.

Baelor I Targaryen

Some believed King Baelor I Targaryen became deranged thanks to the venom from the snake bites he took while rescuing his cousin Aemon the Dragonknight. Following this near-death experience, Baelor's decisions grew increasingly more zealous and erratic as the years passed. In his religious zealotry, Baelor took many extreme actions, such as attempting to make the Citadel use doves rather than ravens or naming an eight-year-old child High Septon, who he claimed to have witnessed speaking to doves that spoke with human voices—the voices of the Seven themselves. Baelor also claimed to have at least one vision, which drove him to begin the construction of the Great Sept of Baelor. He devoted more and more time to prayer near the end of his reign. Baelor's faith also led him to two bouts of extended fasting, the second of which killed him.

Helaena Targaryen

According to Archmaester Gyldayn, Queen Helaena Targaryen "sank deeper and deeper into madness" after the assassins Blood and Cheese forced her to choose which of her sons would live or die then murdered one in front of her. Gyldayn also describes her as "so lost [...] in her own grief and madness" that she never attempted to disturb the rest of her husband King Aegon II Targaryen after he sustained severe injuries at the battle at Rook's Rest. Helaena would eventually take her own life, although some claimed she was murdered.

Rhaegel Targaryen

According to Maester Yandel, Prince Rhaegel Targaryen was sweet but touched by madness. He was said to be sickly and feeble-minded, and one rumor alleged he had danced naked in the halls of the Red Keep.

Viserys Targaryen

King Aerys II's son, Prince Viserys Targaryen, grew up to be mad much like his father. His sister Daenerys believes the years on the run as a beggar and in fear of assassins and the mockery of those they begged for help eventually drove him mad. She also recalls a time when Viserys was not as vicious as the man he became. Ser Barristan Selmy believes that there were warning signs even when Viserys was a child, unlike his brother Rhaegar.

As an adult, Viserys could be violent. His fear of assassins may have been unfounded, as Daenerys had never seen one, although Varys did closely report his moves to the Usurper Robert Baratheon.

Others

Various other Targaryens have also been accused of madness at some point in their lives:

• King Aegon I Targaryen: According to Mushroom, the future King Aegon I Targaryen was called mad when he spoke of conquering the whole of Westeros.
• Princess Aelora Targaryen: Maester Yandel wrote that Princess Aelora Targaryen became "mad with grief" after the accidental death of her twin brother and husband Aelor Targaryen by her own hand.
• Princess Aerea Targaryen: When Princess Aerea Targaryen stole away with the ancient dragon Balerion, her mother Rhaena described her as a "mad child."
• Prince Baelon Targyaren: When he struck Balerion on the snout as a small boy, Sour Sam commented that Prince Baelon Targyaren was "either brave or mad." This incident earned him the nickname Baelon the Brave, and he was not otherwise called mad.
• King Daeron I Targaryen: Like his younger brother Baelor, King Daeron I Targaryen, who led a war of conquest over Dorne, could be regarded as mad in certain lights.
• Queen Jaehaera Targaryen: After the death of the young Queen Jaehaera Targaryen in an apparent suicide, some questioned what could have made her mad or sad enough to take her own life. However, many differing theories were spread about her death, and Archmaester Gyldayn considered the theory that she was actually murdered "more than possible."
• Queen Rhaena Targaryen: Lord Rogar Baratheon accused Queen Rhaena Targaryen of madness because of her harsh verbal rebuke and threat of violence in the wake of her mother Alyssa Velaryon's death in childbirth. Following threatening words spoken by Rhaena to Lord Franklyn Farman at Fair Isle, Lord Myles Smallwood also asked if she was mad for speaking to a lord in such a manner in his own hall. Her brother King Jaehaerys I Targaryen disapproved with his words but did not take issue with Lord Smallwood's point. She was not otherwise said to be mad.
• King Maelys I Blackfyre: According to a semi-canon source, Maelys Blackfyre of the rival Targaryen offshoot House Blackfyre, was a madman.

Theories

• It must be observed that of the Targaryen kings who ruled Westeros for almost 300 years, only Aerys II and perhaps Baelor I could be considered truly mad, although Aegon I and Daeron I were also considered mad by some for their ambitions of conquest.
• Several princes and bastards of Targaryen blood committed insane acts for one reason or another, and oftentimes it was not "pure madness" but acts born of desperation or arrogance that lead to further tragedies, such as Aegon V Targaryen and the tragedy at Summerhall.
  • King Jaehaerys II's famed quote to Barristan Selmy about the thin line between madness and greatness in the Targaryen bloodline may have been said in the wake of his father's disastrous plan at Summerhall, as Selmy joined the Kingsguard during Jaehaerys II's short reign.
  • In a number of instances, a Targaryen is called mad for a particularly extreme action, such as Baelon Targaryen striking Balerion as a child or Aerea Targaryen stealing off with Balerion, but their sanity is not otherwise called into question.
• There is magical power in the blood of old Valyria, and this may create a certain instability in a Targaryen's personality, but it could also be that this is due to the fact that the Targaryens have forgotten how to control it after magic waned from the world and the dragons died out.

Quotes

The Targaryens have heavily interbred, like the Ptolemys of Egypt. As any horse or dog breeder can tell you, interbreeding accentuates both flaws and virtues, and pushes a lineage toward the extremes. Also, there's sometimes a fine line between madness and greatness. Daeron I, the boy king who led a war of conquest, and even the saintly Baelor I could also be considered "mad," if seen in a different light. ((And I must confess, I love grey characters, and those who can be interperted in many different ways. Both as a reader and a writer, I want complexity and subtlety in my fiction))

—George R.R. Martin