Aerys II Targaryen

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Aerys II
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AERYS II.jpg
Aerys II by Amoka©
Monarch
Reign 262 AC - 283 AC
Full name Aerys Targaryen Second of His Name
Title King of the Seven Kingdoms
Predecessor Jaehaerys II
Heir Rhaegar Targaryen
Successor Robert Baratheon
Personal Information
Aliases
  • The Mad King
  • King Scab
Born 243 AC
Died 283 AC
The Red Keep in King's Landing
Family
Dynasty House Targaryen
Queen Rhaella Targaryen
Issue Rhaegar, Viserys, Daenerys.
Father Jaehaerys II
Aerys deals with disturbing rumours - taking Ser Ilyn Payne tongue with hot pincers

Aerys II Targaryen, also called Aerys the Mad, the Mad King, and King Scab, was the seventeenth and last member of the Targaryen dynasty to sit the Iron Throne, ruling from 262 AC to 283 AC.

Aerys showed great promise at the start of his reign, bringing peace and prosperity to the Seven Kingdoms, but later descended into insanity following the brief uprising known as the Defiance of Duskendale, in which he was held prisoner for several months by a rebellious lord. After that, his paranoia and cruelty grew out of control.

Character and appearance

In his youth, Aerys II was charming, generous, handsome and resolute, although somewhat quick to anger. As he grew older, he became increasingly jealous, suspicious and cruel, prone to furious outbursts. After the Defiance of Duskendale, these characteristics became more pronounced. He began to see every unexplained event or act of minor defiance as evidence of fearful conspiracies against him, and devised sadistic punishments for those he imagined to be his enemies. He developed a fascination with fire, which eventually grew so consuming that he could only become sexually aroused by watching someone burn to death. His marriage to his sister-wife Rhaella, while never happy, became sexually abusive later in his reign.

By the end of his life, Aerys' madness had taken a serious toll on his appearance, so that although only in his forties when he died, he looked much older. He ate little and became gaunt as a result of his fear of poison. After repeatedly cutting himself on the Iron Throne he developed a phobia about blades, and forbade any sharp implements in his presence other than the swords of his Kingsguard, refusing even to trim his nails or hair. His fingernails grew to nearly a foot long, and his hair and beard hung far past his shoulders in wild tangles. He wore the elaborate dragon-emblazoned crown of Aegon IV.[1] [2]

Early life

Aerys was born to Prince Jaehaerys, the second son of King Aegon V. While still a teenager, Aerys was married to his sister Rhaella in the Targaryen tradition. The marriage was arranged by his grandfather, Aegon V Targaryen, after he heard a prophecy that the Prince that was Promised would be born from their line. According to Ser Barristan Selmy, who was present at the wedding, there was no fondness between the two. In 259 AC, Rhaella became pregnant and gave birth to their son Rhaegar (later in life they would have another son Viserys, and a daughter Daenerys).

Rhaegar was born in blood and grief during the blaze known as the Tragedy of Summerhall that killed King Aegon V, his heir Prince Duncan and many others. Aerys' father Jaehaerys only ruled for three years before he passed away, and Aerys became king as Aerys II Targaryen.

Early reign

Aerys's reign began in 262 AC with great promise. Under his father and grandfather, the court at King's Landing had become stuffy, filled with old men, so he brought sweeping changes, replacing many at court with younger faces. Impressed by the ruthlessness of the young Lord Tywin Lannister in dealing with houses rebelling against Casterly Rock, Aerys named Tywin as the King's Hand.

The first dozen years of Aerys' rule were peaceful. The realm recovered from the tragic events at Summerhall and grew both rich and strong. However, events and problems arose which turned the character of Aerys' reign into something very different.

Aerys had heard disturbing rumours regarding his rule and even a boast that it was the Hand who truly ruled the realm (a boast that cost Lord Tywin's captain of guard Ser Ilyn Payne his tongue[3]). Jealous of the respect and even fear afforded to Tywin, Aerys resolved to rely less on his Hand and solve some problems himself. In 276 AC, Aerys attended a tournament held in Lannisport, the tourney staged by Tywin Lannister to welcome the King to the West. Aerys' son and heir Rhaegar (then aged seventeen) competed and performed well in the joust. At the tournament Tywin proposed a marriage between his daughter Cersei and Rhaegar but Aerys' fear of Tywin's power led him to reject the offer.

Later, Aerys had closer ties established between the Iron Throne and Dorne when Prince Rhaegar was married to Princess Elia Martell, with Lord Tywin taking the marriage as a slight.

The Defiance of Duskendale

In late 276 AC, Lord Denys Darklyn of Duskendale, under the influence of his Myrish wife, decided to withhold port taxes from the crown. Aerys was determined to settle this issue himself. Taking a small force (with only one Kingsguard knight), Aerys personally marched to Duskendale to arrest and execute Lord Denys. Lord Denys panicked and took Aerys as prisoner. The king was held for six months while Tywin amassed an army and besieged the town in what became known as the Defiance of Duskendale. Eventually Ser Barristan Selmy of the Kingsguard managed to rescue the king. In his fury, Aerys ordered every last branch of House Darklyn to be utterly destroyed, its members tortured at excruciating length before being burned alive.

Many attribute Aerys' madness to his experience with the rebels during the Defiance of Duskendale, which began the rot in his reign. Aerys no longer trusted his son Rhaegar, his wife, and especially his Hand of the King, Tywin Lannister. After this event Aerys never left the Red Keep for many years. Hearing about the talents of Varys from across the narrow sea, Aerys appointed the eunuch as the Master of Whisperers, so he could alert the king to any perceived threats. Aerys became brutal and capricious, indulging his fascination for fire, notably the magical and highly flammable substance called wildfire.

The War of the Usurper

After not leaving the Red Keep for almost five years, Aerys attended the Tourney at Harrenhal in 281 AC, only because Varys claimed Prince Rhaegar planned on using the tournament as an excuse to gather lords to him to cast down his father (it is unknown whether this is true or not).[4].

A year after the tourney at Harrenhal, Prince Rhaegar supposedly kidnapped Lyanna Stark and took her south. Her eldest brother Brandon and several friends, the sons of prominent northern lords, rode to King's Landing. Brandon on arriving roared for Rhaegar to "come out and die." Rhaegar not present, but Aerys was. Aerys had them all arrested for plotting his son's murder and demanded their fathers present themselves at court to answer the charges against their sons. They did so, but Aerys capriciously had them all executed. He had Rickard Stark burned alive by wildfire as his son Brandon watched. Brandon was strapped to a device that strangled him the more he struggled to try and free his father. This brutal act, accompanied by Aerys' seeming sanction of Lyanna Stark's abduction, started a chain of events that later became known as the War of the Usurper.

Aerys's Hand at the start of the rebellion was Lord Owen Merryweather, who was soon replaced for his failure to contain the unrest in its early stages. Aerys next turned to Lord Jon Connington, a close friend to Rhaegar, but he lost to rebel forces at Stoney Sept in the Battle of the Bells and was replaced by Lord Qarlton Chelsted.

Following the rebel victory at the Battle of the Bells, Aerys, now fearful that the rebels might actually win, hatched a plan to have his pyromancers create a huge reserve of wildfire and secret it around the city of King's Landing, planning to burn the entire city down (and kill all of its half million inhabitants) rather than surrender the city intact. Lord Qarlton Chelsted upon discovering the plot confronted Aerys, and when he failed to dissuade him from this course of action resigned his handship, flinging his chain of office at Aerys' feet. Aerys had him burned alive.

During this period the Alchemists' Guild of King's Landing gained unprecedented power and authority. Aerys made the head of the Alchemist's Guild, Lord Rossart, his final Hand of the King. According to Jaime Lannister, Aerys would have bathed in wildfire himself if he dared.

After the royal army was defeated and his son and heir Rhaegar slain at the Battle of the Trident, Aerys sent his pregnant wife Queen Rhaella and Prince Viserys to Dragonstone, though he kept Princess Elia and her children at the Red Keep as hostages to ensure House Martell and Dorne remained loyal to the Targaryens.

Death

Mere hours before the lead elements of the rebel host led by Eddard Stark arrived, 12,000 Westerland forces under Lord Tywin Lannister reached the city and pledged themselves to the Targaryen cause. Aerys ignored Varys' plea that he not admit Tywin's forces to the city. Instead, he acted on the advice of Grand Maester Pycelle and made the mistake of opening the city gates. However, the Lannisters were lying about their faith from the beginning, and once inside, the Lannister army proceeded to sack the city.

Aerys, aware that it was the end, ordered his pyromancers to ignite the wildfire beneath the city and burn King's Landing to the ground with all its people rather than let the rebels take the city. Jaime Lannister stated that Aerys, in his madness, did not believe he would die, but like Aerion Targaryen believed the fire would allow him to be reborn as a dragon so he could crush his enemies. However, before the orders could be carried out, Ser Jaime slew the pyromancers. He then betrayed his Kingsguard oath and slew King Aerys at the foot of the Iron Throne, so he could not give the orders to burn the city to someone else. Jaime's actions prevented the genocide of the city's population.[5]

Genealogy

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Aegon V
 
Betha
Blackwood
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Duncan
 
Jenny
of Oldstones
 
Jaehaerys II
 
Shaera
 
Daeron
 
Rhaelle
 
Ormund
Baratheon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Aerys II
 
Rhaella
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
House Baratheon.svg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rhaegar
 
Elia
Martell
 
Shaena
 
 
Stillborn
child
 
 
Jaehaerys
 
 
Drogo
 
Daenerys
 
Hizdahr
zo Loraq
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rhaenys
 
Aegon
 
 
 
Daeron
 
Aegon
 
Viserys
 
Rhaego
 

TV series

The Game of Thrones TV series deviated from the books, by removing Aerys's father Jaehaerys II Targaryen and making him son of King Aegon V Targaryen, rather than his grandson. The reason for this appears to be to simplify the relationship between Maester Aemon and the other Targaryens. Additionally, an actor was cast to play Aerys II in a flashback in Season 1, but the scene was cut for time and pacing.

Quotes

The traitors want my city ... but I’ll give them naught but ashes. Let Robert be king over charred bones and cooked meat.

References and Notes

  1. A Feast for Crows, Chapter 16, Jaime II.
  2. Targaryen Kings. (November 1, 2005) So Spake Martin
  3. A Feast for Crows, Chapter 27, Jaime III.
  4. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 67, The Kingbreaker.
  5. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 3, Daenerys I.