House of the Dragon
Summary
Baelon the Brave is one of the many historical figures of House Targaryen in George R. R. Martin’sA Song of Ice and Firestory , and while he may not make an coming into court in the show , he is in part responsible for the civil war at the gist ofHouse of the Dragon . House Targaryen is fill with competent scionslike Jaehaerys I the Wise and then others who think they could swallow Wildfyre and survive , like Aerion the Monstrous . It ’s said that when a Targaryen is born , the gods toss a coin to learn their destiny .
Whether the coin leads to madness or Wisdom of Solomon , nearly every Targaryen has a role to play in the warfare to come . Baelon may seem an rethink , justone of Jaehaerys I ’s 13 children , and one who died vernal . However , even Baelon , whose chapter in Martin’sFire & Bloodnovel is forgetful and whose appearance in HBO’sHouse of the Dragonis non - existing , has an outsized effect on Westeros . It ’s uncertain which side of the coin land for Baelon the Brave , but some of his action were the falling stones that began the landslip of the Dance of Dragons .
House of the Dragon season 2 has landed on HBO , and will have to establish upon the spectacular event of the season 1 close . Here ’s everything to roll in the hay .
Baelon Targaryen Helped Sow The Seeds For The Succession Crisis
Baelon Was Chosen Over Rhaenys To Be Ruler Of Westeros
Baelon the Brave was the quaternary child of King Jaehaerys I ( shown in the first sequence ofHouse of the Dragon , as part of the prologue ) and his married woman Alyssane . Due to the vicious and unexpected death of virtually all the King and Queen ’s children , Baelon finally find his way to being second in line for the throne behind his brother , Aemon . Far from being rivals , Baelon adored his older brother , exchangeable to Daemon care for his older brother Visery I a generation later , but Baelon was even more devoted . fundamentally , Baelon was unconcerned with the Iron Throne .
Despite their alinement , thelong and complex roots of the Targaryen house treebegin to kink in this generation . Aemon had a girl , Rhaenys , while Baelon had three children , Viserys I , Daemon , and Aegon who exit as an babe . Though Aemon only had a daughter , it was n’t an proceeds , as Aemon would become King after his founding father , Jaehaerys I , died , and Aemon would surely have a son to come through him at some point before he passed . However , as is expect of Jaehaerys ' nipper , Aemon die before he became King , and before he had any more kid .
Rhaenys was the only last heritor of Aemon , and if she were a boy , the crown would have truly passed to her . But she was n’t a boy , she was a woman . And so the crownwork vamoose Rhaenys ' occupation ( and Aemon ’s and Corlys Velaryon ’s , for that matter ) . All of these decisions were made when Rhaenys was younger , however , and without much fanfare or broken promise . So , though Rhaenys was not happy with the decision , she graciously accept it .
Custom Image by Zach Moser
Thedecision to make Baelon the Brave next in transmission line for the throne knocked down two sets of dominoes that would eventually end in the Dance of Dragons . First , it set the precedent that female heirs could and would be passed over for the line of successiveness , even if a virile heir in the same position would not be skipped . Second , it check Viserys I would take the throne . Whether Viserys I is a good king or not is up for debate , but the realm would certainly have looked unlike with the strong hand of Rhaenys at the helm .
Baelon The Brave May Have Been Half Mad
Some Of Baelon’s Madness May Have Seeped Into His Children
Many Targaryens have claim : Aegon the Conqueror , Daeron the Good , and The sore King Aerys . Like these other Targaryens , Baelon the Brave gather his claim from his legal action during his life-time . Baelon was strong , adventurous , and unafraid , even from an former age . He learned to condition with arm younger than others at court , he became a knight early in his biography when he entered a tournament as a mystery story horse called the " Silver Fool " , and he once pinch into the Dragonpit and hitBalerion the Black Dreadon the olfactory organ while he slept .
That last chip of mischief - making promote a member of the Kingsguard to jokinglywonder if Baelon was either brave or unrestrained , and so he became Baelon the Brave . However , that offhand quote by the Kingsguard may have been more pointed than anyone realized . Targaryens were famously prostrate to rage . Many character inHouse of the Dragonexhibit signs that they may have a cutaneous senses of the ardent ire that engulfs some in the family . It ’s potential that even if Baelon were brave , his activity could be assign to a degree of unfettered madness as well .
Baelon could very well have passed this down to his son Daemon , who is one of the most violent and unstable fibre in the history . He ’s only supercede in that respect by his nephew Aemond One Eye , who is even more unhinged , and is a descendent of Baelon through Viserys I. It ’s potential Baelon the Brave would have well been called Baelon the Mad , as it ’s the two sinewy princes from his line that are arguably responsible for stoking the fire that chair to war .
The Sudden Death Of Baelon Led To Confusion In The Court
Viserys I And Daemon Were Left Without A Mentor
Despite having three shaver who went on to sire tike of their own and cover the Targaryen dynasty , Baelon did not escape the fate of his sib and also died before he was ever top king . Jaehaerys , partly out of duty , and partly out of addiction to make brought on by sorrow , stayed as king for far longer than he perhaps should have . By the time it was necessary to foretell his inheritor , he may not have been the wise Conciliator he was antecedently known to be . This clip , Rhaenys would have expected to be shout out forward .
Jaehaerys instead chose Viserys I , Baelon ’s boy as the next king , spurning Rhaenys again , and this prison term , the wound would not heal so well , extend to the bitter and distrustful Rhaenys inHouse of the Dragon . It was with Baelon ’s death that it was made clearer ever that woman in Westeros did not have the same rights as men . That bubbling rancour would moil over with Rhaenyra who did not need to live a aliveness of regret like her aunt .
Baelon ’s death also had one other effect that aggravated the kingdom and set it up for the Dance — it left the King of Westeros and the Prince of Dragonstone without a judicious Padre to facilitate them . Daemon was furious , and Viserys I was hesitant . They both could have used a maternal image in their life to help guide them . Without a mother or male parent , or even King Jaehaerys to send word them , they were go out alone to make the wrong choice with few masses to trust .
InGame of Thrones , Maester Aemon Targaryen of the Night ’s Watch say , " A Targaryen alone in the human race , it ’s a awful affair . " Viserys I and Daemon were left alone in the world for a tenacious clip before they finally mended their family relationship and began treating other Targaryens as compeer . By the time they did , it was too late andthe absence seizure of Baelon the Brave in their life-time fret the grounding of their family , guide to the Dance of Dragons inHouse of the Dragon .
check on Max
Cast
