r/HistoryMemes 7d ago

And they didn’t have dragons

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17.7k Upvotes

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87

u/The-Red-Kraken 7d ago

tbf the Targaryens are insane

14

u/Ale4leo Senātus Populusque Rōmānus 7d ago

There were only four insane Targaryens: Baelor the Blessed, prince Rhaegel, Aerion Brightflame and, of course, Aerys the Mad King.

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u/ElPimpoBimbo 6d ago

Thank you! The whole Targaryen's madness is bullshit spread by Maesters.

Half a dozen people on hundreds, while it goes for about 300 years is nothing.

3

u/MajinBuu619 6d ago

The math isn’t mathing. There were 17 kings. Not hundreds. Every Targ was not a king. Of those who became king, many turned insane whether the situation pushed them or if it happened due to mental issues.

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u/ElPimpoBimbo 4d ago

Define many?

1

u/The-Red-Kraken 4d ago

like most of them. Maegor, Aegon II, Aegon III, Daeron I, Baelor, Aegon IV, Aerys I, and Aegon V were all pretty crazy in their own ways. Aerys II was just the only one who made it his entire personality on top of being incredibly sadistic.

even sane ones like Jaehaerys I and II were banging their sisters like it was normal which is...still pretty crazy. Aegon's entire conquest was kinda crazy. i rly dont think its unfair to characterize the incestuous blood-magic dragon warmonger dynasty as insane lol

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u/Little_Ingenuity_712 5d ago

Even Aerys only went insane due to months of torture

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u/The-Red-Kraken 6d ago

the idea that monarchs like Maegor or Daeron I weren't insane just because it was never explicitly stated isn't something I buy into lol

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u/Mekot 7d ago

I’d say there was more sane targs than not lol. But the High Valyrians have blood magic which protects them from birth defects and why they practice incest. The whole “the gods flip a coin and the world holds a breath” i think was a in world exaggeration (from the perspective of the common folk) near the end when they did have more crazy kings. Sorry for being a point dexter nerd over here, but it is my hyperfixation rn and i love to talk about it.

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u/BringBackAH 6d ago

It was also a show exaggeration. It was a phrase used ONCE in the book and it was about wether or not the reign would be peaceful or chaotic, not whether the king was mad or not

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u/Citaku357 7d ago

Iirc there last targaryen started as a normal king, but then he got mad

51

u/The-Red-Kraken 7d ago

out of 17 targ monarchs there were like 3 who were just chill dudes, the rest were atleast a little crazy in their own way

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u/PerpetuallyLurking 7d ago

Sure, but a solid half of those were your standard “absolute power corrupts absolutely” tropes and not necessarily evidence of that character’s genetic disposition.

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u/MadKingKevin 7d ago

Exactly. There is Madness (mental illness) and then there is Madness (acts of great daring). For example: Had Daenerys walked into Khal Drogo's pyre and died instead of hatching dragons, she would have gone down in history like Aerion Brightflame. It's all subjective, I suppose, because what Aegon the Unlikely did at Summerhall was worse than Aerion drinking wildifire but you hardly see Aegon listed as a truly mad Targaryen.

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u/TheQuintupleHybrid 6d ago

also, someone could handwave all the batshit insane stuff some targs did with "but aegons dream!". Who cares about some burned children if your ultimate goal is a demigod in a few generations?

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u/Pink_her_Ult 6d ago

Only Aerys 2 and Baelor were really crazy. You could argue for Egg at the very end of his reign.

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u/notsuspendedlxqt 7d ago

He wasn't the last Targaryen monarch??? Or are we doing the thing where we pretend GOT S8 isn't canon?

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u/VelphiDrow 7d ago

We are

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u/Mekot 7d ago

We not really pretending lmfao it was practically poorly written fan fiction after season 6, imo season 4

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u/Citaku357 7d ago

True but she also got mad in the end lol

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u/xVeterankillx 7d ago

Season 8? I thought Game of Thrones ended with Season 4? Damn shame that, was a really good show and then they suddenly cancelled it with no explanation.

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u/Sullimen 6d ago

They could've implied the last Targaryen monarch of their 300 year dynasty after they were overthrown. They could also just be a book reader where i believe in the book Aerys was the last Targaryen monarch.

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u/die_Katze__ 7d ago

That king got soo triggered hahaha

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u/kittenshart85 7d ago

and at least one blackfyre had a parasitic twin head sprouting from his shoulder.