House Targaryen hasn’t always ruled over Westeros. Where did the silver-haired Kings and Queens come from?

House of the Dragon dives into the Targaryen history quite a lot deeper than Game of Thrones, but from the lore these two shows share, many fans still struggle to understand exactly what the Targaryens used to be and how they ended up in Westeros. Meanwhile, it’s quite a compelling and unique story, so tuck in, folks.

House Targaryen Hails from Old Valyria

Centuries ago, when Valyria was still an active and powerful empire in Essos, the Targaryens were but a small noble clan there. They were neither the rulers of Valyria nor its sole dragonriders — just one House of Dragonriders among many. Everything changed when the Doom of Valyria came about: House Targaryen at times produced prophets, and one such prophet, Daenys Targaryen, foresaw the cataclysm.

Thanks to Daenys’ vision, the Targaryens escaped from Old Valyria before the Doom, and their House was saved where countless more powerful died. In search of a new home, these dragonriders settled in the Valyrian Empire’s Westernmost outpost — the island and castle of Dragonstone, where they lived for another century, keeping their Valyrian customs alive, until a great conqueror was born.

Aegon the Conqueror Changed Westeros

The long decades of seclusion ended when Aegon Targaryen and his two sister-wives, Visenya and Rhaenys, took to the mainland on their dragons with the goal of conquering and uniting the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. Six of them fell before the Targaryens’ might and were brought under their heels by fire and blood; the seventh, Dorne, wasn’t conquered and later joined through a political marriage.

At the spot where Aegon the Conqueror and his sister-wives landed, the greatest city of Westeros was built, King’s Landing. It replaced Dragonstone as House Targaryen’s seat of power in the Seven Kingdoms, and from the swords of his fallen enemies, Aegon ordered the Iron Throne to be made. For the next 280 years after the Conquest, House Targaryen ruled over the entirety of Westeros as its monarchs.

The reign of Targaryens famously ended with the Mad King’s outrageous crimes causing a massive rebellion led by Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark. After crushing the King’s army, the rebels killed all but two Targaryen children, deposing the entire dynasty and replacing the dragon with the stag on the capital city’s banners.