Daenerys Targaryen

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Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen

Aliases
  • Dany
  • Daenerys Stormborn
  • The Unburnt
  • Mother of Dragons
  • Mother
Titles
  • Queen of Meereen
  • Queen of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men
  • Lord of the Seven Kingdoms
  • Protector of the Realm
  • Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea
  • Breaker of Shackles
  • Breaker of Chains
Allegiance House Targaryen
Culture Valyria
Born 284 AL
Dragonstone
Spouses
Books

Played by Emilia Clarke

Daenerys Targaryen, called Dany, and also known as Daenerys Stormborn, is the the daughter of King Aerys II and his wife Rhaella. Most of her family was slain during Robert's Rebellion, and her mother died giving birth to her, so the Targaryen dynasty was reduced to only her older brother, Viserys, and herself. In the TV series Daenerys is played by Emilia Clarke.[1]

History

Daenerys was conceived during the rebellion led by Robert Baratheon, also known as the War of the Usurper, that would ultimately end her family's reign. After her eldest brother, Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, was slain in the Battle of the Trident, her mother and brother, Viserys, were sent to Dragonstone, the ancestral seat of House Targaryen, for their safety. Not long after, her father would be slain in the Sack of King's Landing.

Daenerys was born as a fierce storm struck Dragonstone, and so was called Stormborn. Her mother died as a result of the labor. When the garrison began plotting to turn them over to the rebels, Daenerys and Viserys were smuggled away to the Free City of Braavos by a loyalist knight, Ser Willem Darry. In Braavos, they lived in a house with a red door. Ser Willem was old and sickly, but he treated Daenerys kindly. After his death, the servants drove Daenerys and Viserys from the house. Daenerys wept as they were forced out, and the house with the red door became her symbol for the childhood she had never known.

Viserys and Daenerys considered themselves the rightful rulers of Westeros: Viserys III, King of the Seven Kingdoms, and his heiress-presumptive Daenerys, the Princess of Dragonstone. In the years that followed, she and Viserys wandered among the nine Free Cities looking for aid, which earned Viserys the mocking title of The Beggar King. Viserys was often a cruel, abusive companion, prone to mood swings and fits of violence. His abiding obsession with regaining the crown that he felt was his by bloodright instilled in Daenerys a similar belief that reclaiming Westeros was the paramount goal of her life.

Recent Events

A Game of Thrones

In the Free City of Pentos, the Targaryens are the guests of Illyrio Mopatis, a rich and powerful magister. Illyrio and Viserys had previously arranged to marry the thirteen-year-old Daenerys to Khal Drogo, a great leader among the Dothraki people. Viserys had hoped to then use the thousands of men in Drogo's khalasar to conquer Westeros. Despite Daenerys's fear and apprehension, she has no choice but to accept her brother's will and wed Drogo. At her wedding, the exiled knight, Jorah Mormont, pledges his service to Daenerys. He eventually becomes her closest companion. Two of Daenerys's wedding gifts are a magnificent silver filly and a set of three petrified dragon eggs. She is also gifted with three handmaids Doreah, Irri and Jhiqui.

Daenerys, her brother, and the khalasar travel east to the only Dothraki city, Vaes Dothrak, in the heart of the Dothraki Sea, where Daenerys is presented to the crones known as the dosh khaleen. Viserys grows increasingly impatient, demanding that Drogo help him invade Westeros. Meanwhile, Daenerys, now fourteen, becomes pregnant with Drogo's child. At Vaes Dothrak, the crones prophesy that her child, to be named Rhaego after her late brother Rhaegar, will be "the stallion that mounts the world," a long-prophesied Dothraki conqueror. During a drunken rage, Viserys breaks Dothraki law by drawing a blade in the holy city, inciting Khal Drogo to "crown" him by dumping a pot of molten gold over his head, killing him.

Daenerys and her handmaidens Doreah and Irri


As Drogo's khalasar continues west conquering foreign lands, Daenerys saves a Lhazareen priestess named Mirri Maz Duur, who is labeled as a maegi, from rape and possible murder at the hands of Drogo's men and takes her into service. When Drogo takes a wound in battle that threatens his life, Daenerys commands Mirri Maz Duur to heal him. The maegi betrays her, however, leaving Drogo a brain-dead husk and slaying Rhaego in the womb. Daenerys ends Drogo's life herself, and is abandoned by most of his khalasar. She orders Mirri Maz Duur burned on Drogo's funeral pyre, and enters the flames herself with her dragon eggs. The resulting magic restors life to the eggs, from which three dragons hatch, the first to be born in the known world for centuries. Daenerys emerges unharmed, and is called The Unburnt and Mother of Dragons. She names her dragons Viserion, Rhaegal and Drogon, after her two brothers and husband respectively. Three warriors of her late husband's remaining khalasar then swear themselves to Daenerys as her bloodriders, and she becomes the first female Dothraki leader, a khaleesi in her own right.

A Clash of Kings

Daenerys Targaryen by Carrie Best©
Daenerys in Quartheen dress File details

When Drogo's funeral pyre is lit, a red star appears in the sky. Daenerys, her dragons, and what little remains of Drogo's khalasar wander in its direction to a desolate area known as the Red Waste, until they find an ancient, abandoned city. There they recover from the deadly ravages of the desert while Daenerys sends out scouts in all directions. One scout returns with three emissaries from the great city of Qarth. Daenerys accompanies them to Qarth, hoping for aid from the merchant emissary Xaro Xhoan Daxos in conquering Westeros, but the merchants of Qarth are only interested in obtaining her dragons.

Daenerys turns to one of the other emissaries, a warlock called Pyat Pree. Against the judgement of her friends and counsellors, she agrees to visit the warlock's leaders, the Undying Ones, in their hall, the House of the Undying. After viewing several mysterious portents and hearing vague prophecies, Daenerys realizes that the warlocks are plotting against her, and destroys the House of the Undying with the aid of Drogon. With nowhere else to turn, Daenerys considers the suggestions of the third emissary, the masked woman Quaithe of Asshai, that she must go further east to conquer the west.

While unsuccessfully seeking passage out of Qarth, Daenerys notices that two men she does not recognize are following her and Ser Jorah. Daenerys becomes distracted and is off her guard when a Sorrowful Man assassin tries to poison her with a manticore. One of her mysterious followers intercedes and knocks the manticore away just in time to thwart the murder. The two men introduce themselves as agents sent by Magister Illyrio. One of them, a huge eunuch and former pitfighter called Strong Belwas, was to be her bodyguard. The one who had saved her life was Belwas's squire, an older Westerosi man called Arstan Whitebeard. Along with the two men, Illyrio had sent three merchant ships to transport Dany and her people to Pentos. Instead of returning to Pentos, however, Daenerys claims the three ships and their cargo for her own, and continues to the east.

A Storm of Swords

Daenerys next travels to Slaver's Bay, a region whose cities thrive on the sale and labor of slaves. In Astapor, she purchases an army of elite eunuch slave soldiers called Unsullied in exchange for Drogon. She is also given a slave Missandei as a gift from the Good Masters. Dany accepts, but then frees Missandei. Dany tells her she can leave her service whenever she wishes, but Missandei remains close and loyal to Dany. After taking control of the Unsullied, she reclaims Drogon and commands him to use his fires against the Astapori leaders. She then uses the Unsullied to conquer the city. After the fighting, she proclaims all Astapori slaves free, including her Unsullied, giving her the name Breaker of Shackles, or Breaker of Chains. The Unsullied and many new freedmen choose to follow her in her future battles. After forming a council to rule Astapor, she sets out for the city of Yunkai.

Yunkai hires two sellsword companies, the Stormcrows and the Second Sons, in addition to conscripting a force of some four thousand slave soldiers. Daenerys parleys with the captains of the companies, hoping to convince them to switch sides. Her arguments convince one of the Stormcrows' commanders, Daario Naharis, to assassinate his colleagues and pledge the company for Daenerys. To the Second Sons, Daenerys offers a great store of wine as tribute, then attacks them in the night while they are drunk and sleeping. With the Stormcrows' betrayal and the Second Sons' drunkenness, Yunkai's slave army is unable to withstand Daenerys's Unsullied. The entire Yunkish army is slain, captured, or put to flight, and Yunkai surrenders a few days later.

Near Meereen, Daenerys is nearly killed by the Titan's Bastard, the former captain of the Second Sons. Arstan Whitebeard slays the Bastard, and finally reveals his true identity as Barristan Selmy, a famous knight of her father's Kingsguard who had served the Usurper Robert Baratheon after the end of the Rebellion. He claims to have seen the error of his ways and to seeking her out as the true heir to the Seven Kingdoms. Selmy also reveals that Jorah Mormont, still Daenerys's trusted right arm, has been sending reports on her actions to the spymaster in King's Landing, Lord Varys, hoping for a pardon from King Robert. Daenerys feels betrayed by each of them, though both fervently wish to atone for their actions. During her siege of Meereen, she sends them on a covert suicide mission through the sewers, half hoping that they will die in the attempt. The mission succeeds and wins the city with minimal blood. Barristan humbly submits to his Queen's judgment and is forgiven. Jorah stubbornly continues to insist that he had done nothing wrong, and Daenerys is forced to banish him from her service, despite her desire to pardon him.

Having captured Meereen, Dany turns her eyes toward Westeros. Through talks with Barristan about her homeland and its history, however, she learns that there is much she does not know about ruling. Upon hearing that Astapor and Yunkai cannot maintain the peace she had hoped to bring, she resolves to bring order to Slaver's Bay before leaving it behind. By this time, she is close on seventeen years.

A Feast of Crows

Tales reach Westeros of dragons and a beautiful young queen.

A Dance with Dragons

Dany struggles as ruler of Meereen, mainly due to the constant threats surrounding her. A portion of Meereen's former slaving families who call themselves the Sons of the Harpy fight a shadow war with her followers, attacking lone freedmen or Unsullied in the black of night and drawing a harpy nearby with the man's blood.[2] The sons have also scrawled graffiti on the walls of Meereen in blood promising a death to the families of any who serve the Dragon Queen. In Meereen, men traditionally wear their oiled black and red hair in varying shapes in homage to Ghiscari culture. The Meereenese who now serve Dany shave their heads, symbolizing the abandonment of old Meereen to serve the new. These men are known as Shavepates, and are led by Skahaz mo Kandaq, known as the Shavepate. Another of her Meereenese councilors is the seneschal, Reznak mo Reznak.

Three fighting companies were also formed by Daenerys there members comprised from her freeman. The company names are The Mothers men, The Company of the Free Brothers and the Stalwart Shields and have been receiving there training in arms from Grey Worm.

Daenery's dragons have grown wilder, hunting sheep and livestock. Eventually a petitioner comes to her, presenting the bones of his six-year-old girl daughter "Hazzea", claiming the "winged shadow" had killed her.[3] Prompted by this, Dany has her Unsullied capture the dragons using nets and chains and lock them below ground to prevent any more such killings. In a closed fighting pit, Viserion and Rhaegal are captured (though not without several Unsullied men dying), but Drogon escapes and disappears.

Daenerys has enemies outside Meereen as well as in. Since she ended the slave trade in Slaver's Bay, several of the Free Cities that rely upon the slave trade of the slave cities to fuel their economy have promised help to the Yunkai to bring her down. Yunaki has hired sellsword legions such as the Long Lances, the Company of the Cat and the Windblown. Legions have also arrived from New Ghis. The Yunkai host first takes Astapor from Cleon the Butcher King, its most recent ruler, and puts thousands of its inhabitants to the sword or sends them again into slavery. An escaped rider who managed to flee in the confusion of the siege brings word of this to Dany in Meereen. Unfortunately word is not the only thing he brings, as he is infected with the bloody flux. Several other Astapori citizens flee to Meereen, bringing the disease with them.

The merchant emissary Xaro Xhoan Daxos arrives from Qarth bearing a gift of thirteen ships in exchange for Dany's abandon of Slaver's Bay and departure for Westeros. Dany wishes to go, but the thirteen ships are not enough to take her entire army of Unsullied, Dothraki, sellswords and freedmen. The Shavepates beg her not to go. If she does, they who served her and their families will die by the Sons of the Harpy. She refuses Xaro, which prompts Qarth to join the Yunkai against her. Deaths of freedmen and Unsullied continue to grow nightly, and several former freed slave women are raped by the Sons of the Harpy before having their throats slit open. In despair and loneliness, Dany takes Daario Naharis, as a lover. A plan is put to her by the Meereenese priestess, the Green Grace Galazza Galare, suggesting Dany wed the Meereenese noble Hizdahr zo Loraq to bring peace. Dany agrees, on the condition that Hizdahr can promise her 90 days of peace. Hizdahr agrees. Brown Ben Plumm, captain of the Second Sons, learns that Dany can no longer control her dragons, and takes his company go over to the Yunkai.

At this point, Quentyn Martell of Dorne arrives to make a marriage claim, but is rejected because Dany has already promised to wed Hizdahr. After Hizdahr zo Loraq succeeds, Dany weds him. Under his direction, Dany, much to her disgust, suggests peace terms with Yunkai. She promises if they leave Meereen and don't enslave any of the former slaves she freed, she won't disrupt the slave trade of Slaver's Bay any further. The Yunkai agree. To mark the occasion, the fighting pits are reopened, and several gladiators (who freely agreed to compete) battle in the arena. During the event, Drogon appears, drawn to the screams of the crowd and the smell of death. He kills a boar in the arena, but is then attacked by the animal handler Harghaz. Dany, seeing her "child" in pain, runs out in the arena to him as she sees other pit fighters going to kill the dragon. Dany manages to mount the dragon and ride him out of the arena. Many in Meereen suspect that she is dead. She is alive with Drogon, however, thousands of leagues away. She and her dragon are eventually discovered by the khalasar of Khal Jhaqo.

Appearance

Daenerys is small of stature and very beautiful. She has silver hair and purple eyes.[4]

Family

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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
 

References and Notes

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Daenerys Targaryen.
The list of authors can be seen in the page history of Daenerys Targaryen.
As with A Wiki of Ice and Fire, the content of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.