Aegon Targaryen (the Usurper)

Aegon Targaryen, also known as  'Aegon the Elder' , and later,  'the Usurper' , was a rebel Targaryen king, unlawfully succeeding his father, Viserys I Targaryen, as Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. His ascent was disputed by his older half-sister, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, who had been their father's designated heir. Aegon and Rhaenyra fought for the throne in the civil war the singers called the Dance of the Dragons. Aegon later died over Dragonstone in the final year of the war, cementing his half-sister's rule and ending the Dance.

Aegon was married to his younger sister, Helaena, and had three children by her, though only his daughter Jaehaera Targaryen survived the Dance, later going on to be the Queen of King Aegon II Targaryen and the mother of Queen Baela I Targaryen.

His dragon was Sunfyre, also known as 'the Golden'. During the Dance, Aegon took a three-headed golden dragon for his personal sigil instead of the red three-headed Targaryen dragon, indicating his mount. Aegon's supporters used his personal heraldry as their battle-flag.

Early Life
Aegon was born in 106 AC to King Viserys I Targaryen and his second wife, Queen Alicent Hightower. Aegon had three older half-siblings: two brothers who had died in infancy, and a sister, Rhaenyra, who had officially been appointed as Viserys's heir in late 105 AC, with hundreds of lords and landed knights having done obeisance to her and having sworn sworn solemn oaths to defend her rights.

Aegon was named by his mother after Aegon the Conqueror. He would have three younger siblings: two brothers, Aemond and Daeron, and a sister, Helaena. Although King Viserys now had three sons, he refused to alter the succession and kept Rhaenyra as his heir, a decision he left in his will. Prince Daemon Targaryen, the king's younger brother, was notably cool towards Aegon and Aemond, as their births had pushed Daemon further down the line of succession.

Aegon's mother, Queen Alicent, did not agree with her husband's decision to name Rhaenyra heir to the Iron Throne over Aegon. When her father, Ser Otto Hightower, continually encouraged Viserys to name Aegon his heir, he was stripped of his office as Hand of the King. When attempts to persuade the king to do otherwise failed, Alicent attempted to convince her husband to have Rhaenyra and Aegon marry. Viserys did not agree, as the two siblings were ten years apart in age, and had never gotten along. King Viserys knew that Alicent only proposed the match to get Aegon on the throne, and thus married Rhaenyra to Ser Laenor Velaryon, heir to Driftmark, instead.

Relations at court began to escalate as lords began to side with either Alicent or Rhaenyra, with many favoring the laws established at the Great Council of 101 AC, declaring that the Iron Throne could not pass to a woman. The two parties soon became known as the 'greens' and the 'blacks', the former consisting of those in favor of Aegon inheriting the Iron Throne, while the latter favored Rhaenyra.

The enmity between Queen Alicent and Princess Rhaenyra was passed on to their children; Aegon and his brothers did not get along with their Velaryon nephews, and resented the three boys for having stolen their 'birthright', the Iron Throne itself. Prince Aegon was convinced that Rhaenyra's three Velaryon sons were fathered by Ser Harwin Strong, and stated such to his brother Aemond. The six boys attended the same feasts, balls, and revels, and sometimes trained together under the same master-at-arms and studied under the same maesters. Archmaester Gyldayn believed that forcing Aegon and his siblings to be close to Rhaenyra's sons only caused their mutual dislike to grow.

By the time he was thirteen years old, Prince Aegon had become a dragonrider, having successfully bonded with the young Sunfyre. After the deaths of their spouses, Princess Rhaenyra and Prince Daemon married. In 120 AC, Rhaenyra bore a son she named Aegon, intended to be a slight towards Prince Aegon, much to the wroth of Queen Alicent. In 122 AC, in accordance with the ancient tradition of House Targaryen, Prince Aegon the Elder married his sister, Princess Helaena Targaryen, in King's Landing. Their first children, the twins Prince Jaehaerys and Princess Jaehaera, were born a year later, as were two bastards, a boy Aegon had fathered on a girl whose maidenhead he had won at an auction in the Street of Silk and a girl he had fathered on one of his mother's servants. In 127 AC, Helaena gave birth to Aegon's youngest son, Prince Maelor.

Despite the various attempts of King Viserys to get Aegon, his siblings, and their Velaryon nephews on friendlier terms, Aegon remained resentful of Rhaenyra's children. When at a feast on the first day of 127 AC, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon asked Princess Helaena for a dance, Aegon took offense. They argued, and might even have fought, had the Kingsguard not intervened.

The Dance of the Dragons
When King Viserys I Targaryen died in 129 AC, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen was still the heir to the Iron Throne. Since she was pregnant at Dragonstone when her father died, the greens in King's Landing hid the news of Viserys's death, keeping the king's body in his room for seven days, until their preparations for Aegon's coronation were complete. With the exception of Lord Lyman Beesbury, the small council agreed to crown Aegon. According to Mushroom, the prince was found with a young girl in Flea Bottom, while Septon Eustace claimed Aegon was found abed with a paramour, the daughter of a trader. According to Eustace, Aegon at first refused to be a part of his mother's plans to crown him, insisting Rhaenyra was heir. However, Ser Criston Cole, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, convinced him that should Rhaenyra take the throne, Aegon and his brothers would be executed. Eustace insists that only this persuaded him to take the crown.

While the council made plans to win the Great Houses over to Aegon, the prince grew tired of the secrecy and demanded to be crowned. On the tenth day of the third moon of 129 AC, the death of King Viserys I was finally announced to the Seven Kingdoms and Aegon was declared king. Preparations were made to have the coronation at the Dragonpit. On the appointed day, Ser Criston the Kingmaker placed the crown of Aegon the Conqueror upon the prince's head, proclaiming him King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men. With the aged High Septon in Oldtown, it fell to Septon Eustace to anoint and bless 'King' Aegon II.

However, Ser Steffon Darklyn of the Kingsguard fled to Rhaenyra at Dragonstone with the crown of Viserys I. Rhaenyra refused to be denied her crown, disputing Aegon's ascension. Aegon enjoyed the wealth of King's Landing, Oldtown, and Lannisport, as well as the support of Houses Hightower, Lannister, and Baratheon. He also maintained the appearance of legitimacy, with the Conqueror's crown, the Valyrian steel sword Blackfyre, and the Iron Throne. Upon hearing of Rhaenyra's coronation, Aegon demanded the heads of her and Prince Daemon, though Grand Maester Orwyle convinced Aegon to allow him to give peace terms to Rhaenyra. However, Rhaenyra refused the terms, much to the anger of Aegon. The realm was split into two as the greens and the blacks battled for the Iron Throne, and the civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons began.

Early in the war, Prince Aemond slew Prince Lucerys Velaryon over Storm's End, while Lucerys was attempting to win Borros Baratheon, Lord of Storm's End, over to his mother's side. Upon Aemond's return, having ensured Storm's End's support, Aegon welcomed his brother with a great feast, though Queen Alicent and her father, Ser Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King, were concerned about the extent of Aemond's actions. Seeking revenge against Aegon, Prince Daemon took action. Aegon's heir, Prince Jaehaerys, was murdered in the Red Keep by Blood and Cheese, agents of Mysaria, Daemon's spymaster. His sister-wife, Queen Helaena Targaryen, quickly began to sink into depression and madness, due to the role she had played in the events leading to Jaehaerys' death. While Blood was captured and tortured to death, Cheese was not found. In his fury, Aegon ordered every ratcatcher in the city to be hanged. Aegon and his wife slept separately thereafter, with the king drinking in anger.

While the greens suffered a series of defeats in the riverlands, Ser Otto attempted to win allies with letters and buying sellswords. Aegon mistook his efforts for inaction, and his caution for cowardice. With House Velaryon, House Stark, House Arryn, and much of the riverlords firmly behind his sister, Aegon drowned his growing fears in strongwine. With Corlys Velaryon, Lord of the Tides, blockading King's Landing, Otto reached out to the Triarchy and Dalton Greyjoy, Lord of the Iron Islands, for aid. Because of his grandfather's delays in waging war, Aegon stripped Otto of the Handship and awarded it to Criston Cole. Under Criston the Kingmaker's advice, those nobles who were imprisoned for their loyalties to Rhaenyra were brought before the King's Justice and executed if they did not bend the knee to Aegon.

Death
Rhaenyra took King's Landing and the Iron Throne in 130 AC, Aemond and Daemon slew each other in the Battle Above the Gods Eye, and Criston perished in the Butcher's Ball. Before they could be captured by Rhaenyra, however, Larys Strong, Lord of Harrenhal, secretly smuggled Aegon and his children out of the city. While Maelor and Jaehaera were spirited away to safety, Aegon disguised himself as one of the smallfolk and escaped on a fishing boat, later arriving on Dragonstone where he convinced several blacks to defect and help him take the island. During the fall of Dragonstone, he fought Princess Baela Targaryen, both of them mounted on dragons. When Sunfyre and Moondancer fell to the earth during the fight, Aegon tried to jump off his dragon's back, but his foot is caught in his saddle's stirrup and he was crushed to death under his dragon when it fell to the earth. Meanwhile, Aegon's wife Helaena had ended her grief by suicide in the capital, and his son, Prince Maelor, was killed by a mob in Bitterbridge.

Legacy
Aegon's 'rule' was struck from the books by his half-sister Queen Rhaenyra, and thus he is only remembered as 'the Usurper', and Rhaenyra's son had the distinction of being referred to as 'Aegon II' historically. Aegon's line continued only through his daughter Jaehaera, who mothered Queen Baela the Good. He is remembered as the villain of the Dance of the Dragons, a prince who stole his sister's birthright.

Appearance
Aegon resembled his father, Viserys I Targaryen, in appearance. He was a handsome young man, though he had a sullen look to his eyes and a pouty mouth. Aegon had a wispy mustache instead of a beard. Overall, he did not look like a warrior. He wore the iron-and-ruby crown of Aegon I Targaryen and carried Blackfyre, his namesake's Valyrian steel sword.

Personality
Aegon the Usurper was quick to anger and slow to forgive. At the age of fifteen, he was known to be a lazy and somewhat sulky boy, inclined to gluttony at the table and given to swilling ale and strongwine, traits he carried to adulthood. A sweet Arbor red was Aegon's favorite vintage. During the Dance, after a series of defeats and setbacks, Aegon's drinking grew more frequent, as he used strongwine to drown his fears.

It was widely known that the promiscuous Aegon had fathered several bastards. Even at a young age, he was known to pinch or fondle any serving girl who strayed within his reach.