Aegon V Targaryen
(a.k.a. "The Unlikely" "Egg")
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
As a young man, Aegon's eyes were of dark purple and he was pasty faced and skinny. He wore ornate silk robes and the modest crown of Aegon III.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Aegon was born the fourth son of Prince Maekar Targaryen and his wife, Dyanna Dayne. Aegon served at court in King's Landing for two years as a page, sometimes attending to the small council. Aegon owned a dragon egg, which was colored with green and white swirls and had been placed in his cradle with him when he was a babe.
As a boy, Aegon did not wish to marry, instead dreaming of becoming a knight of the Kingsguard.
Aegon was supposed to squire for his eldest brother, Daeron, in the tourney at Ashford Meadow, but Daeron had no interest in jousting and instead drank himself into a stupor at an inn. Daeron shaved Aegon's head to prevent the boy's distinctive Targaryen hair from being recognized by men sent by their father, Prince Maekar. When the hedge knight Dunk visited the inn, he assumed Aegon was a stableboy. Calling himself "Egg", the disguised Aegon assumed that Dunk was short for "Duncan", which Dunk accepted. Aegon was impressed by the humble hedge knight and followed him. Ser Duncan the Tall agreed to let Egg serve as his squire during the tourney.
Maekar, the Prince of Summerhall, wished Aegon to be trained as a knight, but Aegon would only agree if Duncan were the knight who trained him. When Maekar offered Duncan a place at the garrison of Summerhall, Dunk declined and agreed to take Aegon on only if Aegon accompanied him as his squire. Aegon would live humbly, but Duncan thought it would make Aegon a better man than his brothers, Aerion and Daeron. Thus, Aegon served as a squire to the Duncan under his nickname "Egg".
Aegon married Lady Betha Blackwood in 220 AC. The marriage at the time provoked no opposition as Aegon was very low in the line of succession. They married for love and eventually had five children together. Aegon named his first-born son Duncan to honor his friend, Ser Duncan the Tall.
In 221 AC, Aegon's uncle, King Aerys I Targaryen died with no issue and was followed on the Iron Throne by his last living brother, Prince Maekar Targaryen. Aegon and his brothers were summoned to court by King Maekar.
After King Maekar I was at Starpike during the Peake Uprising. With Maekar dead, it was unclear who should be king since two of Aegon's older brothers had died before his father. Daeron left a named Vaella and Aerion an infant son, so a Great Council was called to choose the king. Aegon seemed the logical choice but many lords considered him "half a peasant" due to his youth among the smallfolk. The council approached Aegon's older brother, Maester Aemon, but he refused, stating the crown should be given to Aegon.
Aegon was crowned Lord of the Seven Kingdoms in 233 AC when he was thirty-three years old. During most, if not all, of Aegon V's reign, his old friend Ser Duncan the Tall served as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.
Aegon's first act as king was the arrest of Lord Brynden Rivers, the Hand of the King, for the murder of Aenys Blackfyre, as Bloodraven had offered Aenys safe conduct to Westeros for the Great Council but had Aenys executed when he arrived in the capital. Though all were glad another Blackfyre pretender was dead, Aegon had to punish Lord Bloodraven to prove the word of the Iron Throne was not worthless. Although Brynden was sentenced to death, Aegon allowed him to join the Night's Watch. Aegon's brother, Maester Aemon, decided to join the Watch as well, to prevent any plots in which he would be used against his brother. Brynden and Aemon were joined by many of Bloodraven's personal guard, the Raven's Teeth, as well as prisoners released from dungeons by the king.
Aegon's reign began during a harsh winter which lasted from 230 AC until 236 AC. The benevolent Aegon sent massive shipments of food and grain to aid starving northmen, though there were those who felt he provided too much aid. The end of winter saw the return of the Blackfyre Pretenders, with the Fourth Blackfyre Rebellion taking place in 236 AC. Daemon III Blackfyre attempted to seize the Iron Throne with the Golden Company, but few rallied to his side. Aegon and his sons rode to meet and repel the invaders, and Duncan the Tall slew Daemon in single combat, ending the rebellion. Aegor Rivers, known as Bittersteel, managed to flee with the remnants of the Golden Company across the narrow sea.
Aegon V spent much of his reign dealing with uprisings. On three occasions, the Iron Throne had to intervene in the westerlands due to the inferior and inept leadership of Lord Tytos Lannister of Casterly Rock. Most of Aegon's troubles resulted from his efforts to improve the lives of the smallfolk, whom he had interacted with while squiring for Duncan. Although the smallfolk loved Aegon for his reforms and granting of rights and protections, high lords felt their powers over peasantry was diminished and curtailed by these new reforms. Lacking the dragons controlled by early Targaryen kings, Aegon reluctantly compromised with the recalcitrant lords on several issues.
Aegon faced renewed troubles in his reign caused because of his sons. Convinced the Targaryen practice of incestuous marriage was harmful after spending time with smallfolk, Aegon and his queen, Betha Blackwood, betrothed four of their children to some of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms in 237 AC Their eldest son and heir, Prince Duncan, was betrothed to the daughter of Lord Lyonel Baratheon of Storm's End. Prince Jaehaerys, Aegon's second son, was betrothed to Lady Celia Tully, the daughter of the Lord of Riverrun. Aegon's youngest son, Prince Daeron, was betrothed to Lady Olenna Redwyne of the Arbor, when both children were nine years old. In addition, Aegon's eldest daughter, Princess Shaera, was betrothed to Luthor Tyrell, the heir to Highgarden. The proposed marriages would have won Aegon much support for his reforms, but his children had inherited his willfulness and their mother's stubbornness.
Beginning in 239 AC, Prince Duncan fell in love with and eventually wed the mysterious Jenny of Oldstones. King Aegon, the small council, the Grand Maester, and the High Septon forced Duncan to choose between the peasant girl or the Iron Throne. The prince choose his wife and abdicated as Prince of Dragonstone, making his younger brother, Prince Jaehaerys, the new heir. With Duncan refusing to marry the daughter of Lord Baratheon, Storm's End briefly rose in rebellion, which ended when Ser Duncan the Tall of the Kingsguard forced Lord Lyonel to yield during trial by combat. King Aegon pardoned Lyonel and betrothed his daughter, Princess Rhaelle, to Lyonel's heir, Ormund. Aegon sent Rhaelle to Storm's End as Lyonel's cupbearer and companion to his wife.
While King Aegon disliked the Targaryen practice of marriage through incest, Prince Jaehaerys and his sister, Princess Shaera, desired each other from a young age. With Duncan marrying Jenny as precedent, Jaehaerys and Shaera secretly wed and consummated their marriage in 240 AC, leaving Aegon to deal with the anger of Houses Tully and Tyrell.
Though betrothed for nine years to Lady Olenna Redwyne, Prince Daeron broke his betrothal in 246 AC when he was eighteen years old. Daeron remained unwed, but was noted to frequently be in the companionship of Ser Jeremy Norridge, a young knight whom he had befriended when they were squires at Highgarden. Daeron and Jeremy perished in battle in 251 AC, crushing a rebellion led by the Rat, the Hawk, and the Pig.
In 258 AC, nine outlaws, exiles, pirates and sellswords hoping to carve out individual kingdoms came together in the Disputed Lands of Essos. Among this Band of Nine was Maelys I Blackfyre, the last of the Blackfyres. Because the outlaws had no great urgency, King Aegon remained intent on his reign and on dragons in particular. Against the advice of his friends and counselors, Aegon V became convinced that only with dragons could he force the lords of the Seven Kingdoms to accept his decrees that granted freedoms, rights, and protections to the smallfolk.
Aegon died in the Tragedy at Summerhall, a fire which some rumor was caused by a failed ritual to hatch a dragon.
Relationships
History
Aegon V Targaryen and Lady Betha Blackwood married in 220 AC. The marriage at the time provoked no opposition as Aegon was very low in the line of succession. They married for love and eventually had five children together. Aegon named his first-born son Duncan to honor his friend, Ser Duncan the Tall.
Ethnicity
Honorary & Occupational Titles
King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men. Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. Protector of the Realm.
Life
200 AC
259 AC
59 years old
Family
Spouses
Betha Blackwood
(Wife)
Siblings
Aerion Targaryen
(Brother)
Daeron Targaryen
(Brother)
Aemon Targaryen
(Brother)
Daella Targaryen
(Sister)
Children
Belief/Deity
The Faith of the Seven
Comments