00:00You got a name, Thief?
00:02Egg.
00:03Egg.
00:04Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at exactly where A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms fits into Westerosi history.
00:10Be warned, there will be unavoidable spoilers for all Game of Thrones-related media,
00:15but we won't spoil anything from the new series that hasn't already been discussed in existing shows.
00:20Winter's coming.
00:24Three shows currently exist set in George R.R. Martin's universe.
00:28Game of Thrones came first, adapting the novels A Song of Ice and Fire.
00:32The wall isn't going anywhere.
00:34I'm ready.
00:36This way you are old.
00:37It begins in the in-universe year of 298 A.C., which means after Aegon's conquest, then covers the following six to seven years.
00:45The other two shows are prequels, with House of the Dragon being set 200 years earlier, then roughly 90 years for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
00:53How much farther to Ashford?
00:55Day's ride.
00:55The latter is based upon three novellas written by Martin, covering the life of a young King Aegon V Targaryen,
01:03while squiring for Ser Duncan the Tall, his future Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.
01:07Your belt's made of rope.
01:10So long as it holds my scabbard, it serves.
01:12To fully understand where it fits in, we have to return to the Dawn Age.
01:16Around the year 12,000 B.C., before Aegon's conquest, Westeros was inhabited by magical creatures like the Children of the Forest.
01:24They lived in the depths of the forests and hidden villages.
01:28Then, humans invaded from the eastern continent of Essos.
01:31Fighting between men and the children lasted about 2,000 years before signing a peace treaty.
01:36The Age of Heroes followed, where most Westerosi dynasties claim descent from.
01:41The infamous Long Night and the subsequent building of the Wall also came during this era,
01:45and it ended when the Andals fled Essos and sailed to Westeros.
01:49Centuries of war followed, and the Andals conquered every kingdom in Westeros, save one.
01:54The North.
01:55Around this time, Valyria was the major power in Essos,
01:59but was decimated during the mysterious Doom of Valyria in about 102 B.C.
02:03You know what they say?
02:06The Doom still rules Valyria.
02:08The Targaryens were a Valyrian noble house that ruled as dragonlords.
02:12Through magic or sheer will, they mastered the greatest creatures in history.
02:18They weren't too powerful, but they were lucky because one Targaryen,
02:21Danyse the Dreamer, saw a vision of the Doom.
02:24So, in about 114 B.C., the family and their dragons fled to Dragonstone in Westeros.
02:30In hours, the greatest city in history became history.
02:35After fighting in a century of war in Essos,
02:38the Targaryens, led by Aegon, turned their attentions west.
02:41In the year 2 B.C., his famous conquest began.
02:45Having dragons made the odds overwhelmingly in his favor,
02:48and by 1 A.C., he ruled six of the seven kingdoms in Westeros.
02:52The last to fall was Dorne, who wouldn't bend the knee until almost two centuries later.
02:58Together, the seven kingdoms made Westeros, a realm that wasn't yet a realm,
03:03ruled by great families who didn't know what greatness was.
03:07Aegon lived until 37 A.C.
03:10Then, he was succeeded by his son, Aenys I.
03:12House Targaryen, my family, my throne.
03:19Or so it should have been.
03:21During his short reign, the faith of the seven revolted against the crown.
03:25Aenys fled to Dragonstone, where he died in 42 A.C., and Maegor the Cruel took charge.
03:31He ended the uprising, then passed a law making it illegal for the faith to bear arms,
03:36a law repealed by Cersei Lannister centuries later.
03:39Order your man to step aside or there will be violence.
03:49I choose violence.
03:51After a six-year rule, his nephew Jaehaerys ascended to the throne
03:55and then ruled for a monumental 55 years.
03:59He famously outlived multiple heirs.
04:01This led to a great council in 101 A.C., which named Viserys I as his heir.
04:07Both had peaceful reigns, so this era is considered the pinnacle of Targaryen rule.
04:12That Prince Viserys Targaryen be made Prince of Dragonstone.
04:18We now make it to the events of House of the Dragon,
04:21which begins in the final years of Viserys' reign.
04:24Enforce my laws, but understand.
04:27Any further performances like last night's will be answered.
04:30After he died in 129 A.C., the realm split into two factions, the Greens and the Blacks.
04:37The Blacks supported his oldest daughter Rhaenyra from his first marriage.
04:40The Greens supported his son Aegon II, mothered by his second wife Alicent Hightower.
04:45It's my hope that, once enthroned, you would honor the burden of your new duties,
04:51be silent, and strive to learn from the more studied minds around you,
04:57in the hope that you might be half the king your father was.
05:02Tread carefully.
05:04Without spoiling details, the Civil War claims both Rhaenyra and Aegon II's lives.
05:09It ends when Rhaenyra's son Aegon III ascends to the throne.
05:12Would you like to see where the lost Targaryens are buried?
05:15Are you sure Lady Margaery doesn't find all this a bit macabre?
05:18Oh no, it's quite all right, Your Grace.
05:20I'd love to see their tombs, really.
05:22It's like taking a walk through history.
05:24He also married Jaehaera, daughter of Aegon II, uniting the two factions.
05:29The war tragically led to the extinction of the dragons,
05:33with dragons last being seen during Aegon III's reign.
05:36Until Daenerys, of course.
05:37Aegon III's rule lasted from 131 until 157 AC.
05:48He was so traumatized by the dance, he cared little for restoring the dragons.
05:52So he's often blamed for their extinction.
05:54Finally, the last remaining dragon broke her chain,
05:57spread her wings, and flew straight up at the Great Dome, trying to flee.
06:01He was succeeded by his son Daeron I, who successfully conquered Dorne,
06:05but lost it almost as quickly as he took it.
06:08Eventually, we did join the Seven Kingdoms, but when we wanted, and on our terms.
06:15The Dornishmen slayed Daeron, and his brother Baelor the Blessed
06:18then ruled from 161 until 171 AC.
06:22Afterwards, Viserys II ascended to the throne for a year,
06:25and he was succeeded by the infamous Aegon IV, one of Westeros' worst kings.
06:30He was so terrible, they dubbed him the Unworthy.
06:33His worst decision was debatably on his deathbed,
06:36when he legitimized all of his children born out of wedlock.
06:39Now that the war is won, we should all find time for wisdom.
06:44Aegon died in 184 AC, and was succeeded by the far more likable Daeron II.
06:49He's celebrated for diplomatically conquering Dorne via marriage.
06:53At the beginning of a Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,
06:56Daeron II has been king for an incredible 25 years.
06:59His reign was plagued not just by plague, but also by the Blackfyre pretenders.
07:03One of my foolish ancestors didn't see what separated his bastards from our family proper.
07:10Daemon was a legitimized son of Aegon,
07:12who was given the iconic Valyrian steel sword Blackfyre,
07:15which was traditionally only handed to kings.
07:18So he called himself Blackfyre.
07:20Then, in 196 AC, pressed his claim for the throne in the first Blackfyre rebellion.
07:26He failed, but his brother Aegon Bittersteel fled east,
07:29where he founded the Golden Company, setting the stage for future Blackfyre uprisings.
07:33Years later, after the war had faded into songs,
07:38I opened them again,
07:40and saw what I had done,
07:42and what I had become in the war, and since.
07:45Thirteen years after the rebellion,
07:48Sir Duncan the Tall takes a young boy named Egg as a squire,
07:51who grows up to become Aegon V.
07:53That laugh.
07:55Egg.
07:57Egg laughs like that.
07:59You may also know him as Aegon the Unlikely,
08:02as no one expected him to become king.
08:05Each novella covers about a year of their adventures together,
08:08but Martin said he'd like to write more,
08:09so it's unclear how much of their life he has planned.
08:12Two more Blackfyre rebellions happened during Egg's life,
08:16than two more after his death.
08:17One day I looked around and realized all my friends and kin were gone.
08:21That was fighting besides strangers under a banner I'd never seen.
08:24As explained in Game of Thrones,
08:26Dunk and Egg perished in the tragedy at Summerhall in 259 AC.
08:30The event is shrouded in mystery,
08:32but it's believed Aegon was trying to revive the dragons.
08:35Now we hear rumors that the young Daenerys Targaryen
08:39has hatched three dragons far to the east.
08:41After the tragedy,
08:43Aegon's son Jaehaerys II ruled for only three years.
08:46Targaryen dominance ended with his successor Aerys II,
08:49also known as the Mad King.
08:51The Seven Kingdoms are well rid of him and his kind.
08:55During his reign, he became increasingly unstable,
08:58eventually leading to Robert's rebellion
09:00and his death at the hands of Jaime Lannister.
09:03At the sack of King's Landing,
09:04murdered his king Aerys II,
09:07pardoned by Robert Baratheon.
09:09A little over a decade later,
09:12Game of Thrones begins.
09:13The Targaryen dynasty did not end there, however.
09:16Aerys' children Daenerys and Viserys fled to Essos.
09:19His son Rhaegar was killed,
09:21but it's later revealed that he had a secret son with Lyanna Stark,
09:24better known as Jon Snow.
09:25In the books, there's also a character who claims to be his son, Aegon,
09:37sired by Elia Martell.
09:38Unfortunately, he was cut from the show completely for simplicity.
09:42Before we continue,
09:44be sure to subscribe to our channel
09:45and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
09:48You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
09:52If you're on your phone,
09:53make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
09:58The tales of Dunk and Egg are fun stories set within the universe,
10:02but they tie into A Song of Ice and Fire wonderfully well.
10:04They explore the identity of the Three-Eyed Crow,
10:07who in the show's canon is confirmed to be Bloodraven.
10:10They were all so happy.
10:13So were you, Wes.
10:15If it goes beyond the first three novellas,
10:17it could eventually dig deep into the tragedy of Summerhall,
10:21tying into the return of the dragons in Game of Thrones.
10:27Run! Run! Run!
10:30What period of Westerosi history do you find the most interesting?
10:37And has it already been explored in a book or show?
10:39Let us know in the comments.
Comments