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| “ | Aegon was not called the Unworthy without cause. | „ |
| ~ Arys Oakheart to Arianne Martell about Aegon IV. |
King Aegon IV Targaryen, also known as Aegon the Unworthy, is a major character in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series. He was the son of King Viserys II Targaryen and Queen Larra Rogare of Lys. He was the eleventh Targaryen king to sit on the Iron Throne.
He is widely considered to be one of the worst Targaryen kings to sit on the Iron Throne. While he was a corrupt ruler, he was also an endless glutton, which made him overweight. He sired numerous bastards by numerous different mistresses, and legitimized them all on his deathbed, placing them in his line of succession after his trueborn son. This act led to the five Blackfyre Rebellions.
Aegon was married to his pious sister-wife, Queen Naerys Targaryen, and he was the father of King Daeron II and Princess Daenerys. Before Daenerys, Aegon fathered two twins who died shortly after the birth, and a stillborn son who was twin of Daenerys.
A womanizer, Aegon was known to have had numerous different lovers, including his cousin Princess Daena Targaryen. He had countless unknown lovers throughout his life since youth. He was also rumored to have had relationships with his cousin, Princess Elaena Targaryen, and the daughters of Lord Butterwell. Aegon also had nine favorite mistresses: Falena Stokeworth, Megette, Cassella Vaith, Bellegere Otherys, Barba Bracken, Melissa Blackwood, Bethany Bracken, Jeyne Lothston, Serenei of Lys.
With Daena, Aegon fathered Daemon Waters. With Megette, he fathered future Septas Alysanne, Lily, Willow, and Rosey. With Bellegere, he fathered Bellenora, Narha, and Balerion Otherys. With Barba, he fathered Aegor Rivers. With Melissa, he fathered Mya Rivers, Gwenys Rivers, and Brynden Rivers. With Serenei, he fathered Shiera Seastar. Rumored children of Aegon were Viserys Plumm, the bastards of Lord Butterwell's daughters, and Jeyne Lothston.
Appearance[]
In his early life, Aegon IV was a strong, fit, robust, and handsome young man, as well as a capable warrior, if completely outshone by the martial abilities of his brother Prince Aemon. In later life, during his reign, Aegon became immensely fat and overweight, growing a beard to hide his round cheeks and multiple chins (which failed, as is already obvious). His eyes became lost in the folds of his face, and his legs had difficulty supporting his bulk. In the last few years of his life, he took to wearing immense amounts of jewelry, such as rings and chains, and had a new crown forged, a substantial red-gold device surmounted by dragons.
Biography[]
Prince Aegon was the eldest son of Prince Viserys Targaryen and his wife, Lady Larra Rogare. He was born and raised during the rule of his uncle, King Aegon III, in whose honour he was named. His birth was a cause of great joy, as the line of succession was secured. Septon Bernard anointed him with the seven oils in the royal sept, and the city bells rang in celebration of his birth, and, following custom, a dragon's egg was placed in his cradle. His grandfather, First Magister Lysandro Rogare, even declared a holiday in Lys in his honour.
A young Aegon trying to attack his baby brother Aemon with the dragon egg in the cradle.
A year and a half later, his younger brother, Prince Aemon, was born, and while everyone rejoiced at his birth, Aegon, however, did not. It is said that the latter, who was not yet two years old, tried to hit his brother with the egg placed in his cradle, but was caught by his mother, Larra, who immediately intervened.
Years later his mother returned to her homeland of Lys, where she died. As an adult, Aegon was forced by his father Viserys to marry his sister, Princess Naerys; their marriage was unhappy. Naerys had a better relationship with his second brother Aemon, as he knew how to make her laugh and had some of her piety, while Aegon did not. When Aegon and Naerys were married, Aemon quarreled with Aegon at the wedding feast, and Naerys wept when it came time to consummate the marriage. Aegon's first child with Naerys, Prince Daeron, was born on the last day of that same year.
Naerys, who was very weak after giving birth, was warned that a second pregnancy could kill her and asked Aegon to release her from her marriage vows so that she could become a septa; In Westeros, a marriage could be annulled for very specific reasons, such as it not being consummated, or, as in this case, the woman being unable to bear children, but Naerys needed Aegon's approval. Despite despising his sister-wife, Aegon refused, and in fact laughed at Naerys and said that she "must fulfill her duties as a wife for life."
Aegon accompanied his cousin, King Daeron the Young Dragon, in his conquest of Dorne, as did Aegon's younger brother, Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, who had joined the Kingsguard; Aemon became a great knight and warrior during King Daeron I's conquest of Dorne. After the submission of Sunspear, Aegon was tasked by Daeron to escort the highborn Dornish hostages to King's Landing. One of these hostages, Lady Cassella Vaith, became one of Aegon's mistresses for a few years.
When Daeron I died, his brother, King Baelor the Blessed became king. Aemon was held captive by House Wyl after the war until he was freed by Baelor, who had already ascended the throne.
Aegon and Daena about to make love
King Baelor I dissolved his marriage to his sister-wife Daena and imprisoned her and her two younger sisters, Rhaena and Elaena, in the Maidenvault so the sight of them would not tempt him to carnal thoughts. Prince Aegon was not under any such prohibition and developed a fondness for his cousin Daena, despite his marriage to his own sister-wife, Naerys. On one occasion, he helped Daena escape from the Maidenvault, and they conceived a child. Daena, to keep Aegon's involvement a secret, refused to reveal the identity of the father, for which she was dubbed 'Daena the Defiant'. Aegon noted with approval that the child, who was named Daemon Waters, was growing up to be a strong warrior, but the child would eventually become one of the infamous Great Bastards.
King Baelor, upon discovering this, immediately starved himself to death during his pious fasting, and his uncle Viserys immediately succeeded him, though he ruled for only a single year before dying of an illness in 172 AC. With his death, the throne passed to Aegon, who became the Fourth of His Name. However, there were suspicions that Aegon had poisoned his father.
Aegon IV is generally considered to be one of the worst Targaryen kings in the history of Westeros and is famously dubbed 'Aegon the Unworthy' in history texts. Because of his behavior, along with his excess and misrule, this caused great strife at court, including with his own trueborn son Daeron and his own brother Prince Aemon, the lord commander of the Kingsguard. Although he kept the realm out of war, Aegon's personal life was dissolute and shocking even by Targaryen standards, and his actions at the end of his life paved the way for the then-bloodiest civil war in Westerosi history, which is famously known as the Blackfyre Rebellion.
Aegon was a decadent, corrupt ruler who indulged his passions and whims at every opportunity he got. Over the course of his life, he had, quite openly, nine 'Great Mistresses', and flaunted them at court. Daena was not counted in this number, and their tryst was not openly admitted until long after he became king. Of the nine mistresses, several bore him more bastard children, among them being two of the Great Bastards, who are also Daemon' half-brothers: Aegor 'Bittersteel' Rivers and Brynden 'Bloodraven' Rivers.
King Aegon's lustful flaunting of his mistresses left his sister-wife greatly distressed and miserable, and she, according to some, sought comfort in the arms of her other brother, Aemon, famously known as Aemon the Dragonknight, who shares an inseparable relationship with Naerys. Aegon and his sister-wife did bear two legitimate children, named Daeron and Danaerys, respectively.
Aegon IV's cruel and capricious nature was revealed when he caught one of his Kingsguard knights, Ser Terrence Toyne, abed with one of his mistresses. He had both of them killed immediately, along with his mistress' father, Lord Bracken. This caused immense outrage to Ser Toyne's brothers, who attempted to murder King Aegon as revenge, but instead they killed Aemon the Dragonknight in battle. Aegon IV proceeded to disgrace House Toyne, and this caused the downfall of the noble house years later. In addition, this would much later cause Ser Simon Toyne to become an enemy of House Targaryen and form an outlaw band known as the Kingswood Brotherhood.
King Aegon would often give out important positions, honors, and priceless treasures to nobles in exchange for them letting him get what he desired. He gave Lord Butterwell a dragon's egg for letting him sleep with all three of his daughters, in the position of Hand to Lord Bracken as their daughter. Barba Bracken bore him Aegor Rivers. When Aegon the Unworthy had an affair with Melissa Blackwood, the Blackwoods and the Brackens had a terrible feud, and Aegon took some of House Bracken's lands and gave them to the Blackwoods. Melissa soon bore him with Brynden Rivers.
As Aegon IV's children grew up, he became disinclined to pass the throne to his son Daeron, who had come to show signs of weakness, preferring the company of septons and maesters to warriors.
Aegon knighting Daemon Waters before giving him the sword Blackfyre.
However, King Aegon's eldest natural-born son, Daemon, had instead grown up to be strong and charismatic, a true warrior without compare. When Daemon was 12 years old, Aegon IV openly acknowledged him as his natural-born son and bestowed on him the Valyrian steel blade Blackfyre as a gift, which shocked the Seven Kingdoms, for they knew that Blackfyre, the sword of Aegon the Conqueror, was arguably the greatest and strongest symbol of Targaryen rule and was traditionally given to the heir. Some saw this as Aegon acknowledging Daemon as his heir. King Aegon betrothed his bastard son to a girl named Rohanne, the daughter of the Archon of Tyrosh, though this was against Daemon's wishes. It was claimed that he wanted to marry his half-sister Princess Daenerys, but this was refused by his father, and it was believed that Aegon the Unworthy saw more profit in forging ties with Tyrosh, which would allow him to seek aid from the Tyroshi fleet, as he wanted to conquer Dorne.
In his later life, Aegon IV seemed to often praise the accomplishments of Daemon and his other warrior bastard son, Aegor Rivers, but held silence on the achievements of Prince Daeron, who is scholarly in nature. Some whispered that Aegon had heard the rumors that Daeron was actually the son of Aemon the Dragonknight was planning to formally disinherit his true-born son in favor of Daemon. It is believed by many that Aegon IV was responsible for these rumours, which began about the time he was arguing with his son about invading Dorne. This is due to the fact that Prince Daeron became one of the biggest obstacles in his reign. In the few remaining years of King Aegon's life, some opportunistic lords saw opportunity in the king's gluttony and corpulence, as he could be easily convinced to give them offices, honors, and treasures for a chance of pleasure, though many flocked to Daeron as they condemned King Aegon's behavior.
In the event of Aegon the Unworthy, despite all the threats, japes, and disparities he heaped on his son, he did not disown Daeron, leading to differing accounts on the main reason why; it was most likely explained that King Aegon knew that if he disowned his son, then his hold on the iron throne would not be secured, which would mean a civil war, as many lords were sick of King Aegon's depravity and would thus defend Daeron's rights. However, the chief among them was House Martell, the ruling house of Dorne, due to the fact that Prince Daeron had married Princess Myriah Martell.
Though Aegon the Unworthy tried to use the Stormlands and the Reach's hatred of Dorne to his advantage, he decided to go along with another plan to invade Dorne, though this led to an even greater folly. Due to having an obsession with regaining dragons for House Targaryen, King Aegon, instead of just trying to resurrect the dead dragons, ordered the Alchemists' Guild to construct massive mechanical dragons made of wood and iron, and they were fitted with pumps that could allow the siege engines to spit out Wildfire. When they were completed, Aegon the Unworthy had them go through the Boneway to imitate the invasion. However, as he lacked tactical sense, the Boneway proved to be too steep for the mechanical dragons. To make matters worse, the siege engines didn't make it that far, due to the instability of Wildfire and the difficulty in moving the siege engines. In Kingswood, the mechanical dragons were then consumed by fire, and hundreds of the men operating the siege engines were burned alive. A quarter of the Kingswood burned down during this event. Humiliated, King Aegon never spoke of Dorne again.
Death[]
Aegon legitimizing his bastard children before dying.
In 184 AC, King Aegon IV had become so overweight and obese that his legs could no longer support his weight. His condition worsened when his belly became so horribly swollen that he couldn't get up from his couch, which was stained with his sweat. Moreover, his limbs began to rot, and they were crawling with hosts in fleshworms. The Septons proceeded to declare the king's horrible condition a judgement of the gods. Aegon IV soon died at the age of 49, but prior to his death, he foolishly legitimized all of his bastard children on his deathbed. However, his last decree was to actually spread and lay the seeds of war, bloodshed, and chaos, which would continue on for generations.
Despite the rumors that he himself is a bastard, Daeron ascended the iron throne, and he was swiftly crowned King Daeron II Targaryen.
Legacy[]
Though Daeron II was a good king and ruled wisely, because of the rumors his father had started, many lords came to believe that he was a bastard and therefore illegitimate. They became distrustful of King Daeron after he brought Dorne into the Seven Kingdoms via marriage pact. Because of this and also because of his eldest son Prince Baelor, who looked more Dornish than Targaryen, the rebelling lords began to turn to King Daeron's bastard half-brother Daemon, who is famously known as Daemon Blackfyre, and this would later lead to the First Blackfyre Rebellion. The legacy of Aegon the Unworthy would continue on for years until the War of the Ninepenny Kings, in which Daemon's last male descendant, Maelys the Monstrous, was slain by Ser Barristan Selmy.
Personality[]
In his youth, Aegon IV could be charming and had a love for engaging in different kinds of sports such as hunting, hawking, and dancing. He was even remarkably intelligent as a prince, being able to dazzle lords with his wits. As he grew older, however, he became less intelligent and even extremely gluttonous, where he would consume large amounts of food, which would make him extremely obese and even worsen his health in the coming years, which would then cost him his own life. In addition, King Aegon became lustful, selfish, and harbored a strong sense of depravity and desire, seeking to get whatever he wanted and would do anything, such as give out priceless treasures, to have sex and pleasure with any women he desired. However, this made him the target of several opportunistic lords, who used the king's depravity to gain wealth and titles for themselves. Aside from his lusts, Aegon the Unworthy has a strong hatred for his own brother, the famed Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, and even became outright jealous of him, as Aemon was seen as everything by many while Aegon was not. This hatred and jealousy extended to the point where Aegon would disrespect his brother and even do little to honor his legacy after Aemon died.
While he appears to the Lords of the Realm, who do not wish for the king to take liberties with their daughters, as strong, decisive, frivolous, and harmless, those at court see King Aegon's true nature; he is actually seen as mercurial as well as extremely greedy and cruel to be anything other than dangerous.
Aegon the Unworthy never cared for or took pleasure with his sister-wife, Queen Naerys, as she was frail, religious, and gentle, which her husband hates. Aegon was implied to be heartless, as it is speculated that he never allowed Naerys to join the Faith of the Seven as she wanted out of simple cruelty. His mistreatment may have even extended to the point where King Aegon started rumors that his sister-wife had committed adultery. This would have a negative effect on the reputation of his trueborn son, Prince Daeron, as many began believing that he was a bastard and therefore illegitimate for the throne.
Aegon IV sitting on the Iron Throne with Daemon Blackfyre and Prince Daeron at his side
The only person for whom King Aegon felt unparalleled pride was his eldest natural son, Daemon Blackfyre, as Aegon adored and loved him for his charisma, swordsmanship, leadership skills, and ability to win friends. It is well known that Daemon was Aegon's favorite, and he wanted to depose Daeron in favor of his bastard, but he did not do it fearing a civil war, since many lords were fed up with his corrupt government and would defend Daeron's rights, especially the Martells. So instead of naming Daemon as his heir, he brought him as close to the throne as he could. King Aegon showed little care towards his trueborn son, having never gotten along with him, and their relationship is usually strained, as Prince Daeron strongly disapproved of his father's behavior while King Aegon would abuse him.
It is also known that his other two bastard sons, Aegor and Bryden, enjoyed a certain affection from his father; Brynden was given Dark Sister, the other Valyrian steel sword of the family.
The ultimate example of Aegon IV's incompetence was his legitimizing of all his bastards on his deathbed, which would eventually lead to a devastating loss of life and dynastic chaos that would weaken the Targaryen dynasty. This shows that Aegon the Unworthy cannot rule himself and is ruled by nothing but his own greed, lusts, and desires.
Gallery[]
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Trivia[]
- George R.R. Martin described Aegon the Unworthy to English King Henry VIII, as both monarchs have similarities with each other.
- Daenerys Targaryen's current living three dragons are fond of Ben Plumm, possibly due to the fact that Ben's ancestor, Viserys Plumm was a son of Princess Elaena Targaryen (with some rumors claiming his father was King Aegon IV). Although it is also possible that the three dragons simply like Ben, as Prince Quentyn Martell, despite having Targaryen ancestry, still failed to claim a dragon, at the cost of his life.
