Daemon Targaryen
Who is Daemon Targaryen?
Prince Daemon Targaryen is a member House Targaryen. He was the younger brother of King Viserys II Targaryen. Daemon, the second husband of Rhaenyra Targaryen (Princess of Dragonstone), was named after Ser Laenor Velaryon.
Daemon was the most skilled warrior of his time. He wielded the Valyrian blade Dark Sister. Daemon was a dragonrider, his dragon being Caraxes.
Archmaester Gyldayn wrote about a lot of Daemon’s history in The Rogue Prince or, A King’s Brother. [5][2]
Matt Smith portrays Daemon in House of the Dragon’s television adaptation.[6]
Appearance and character
Also see Images of Daemon Targaryen
Maester Yandel described Daemon as bold, daring and dangerous. [7] Archmaester Kyldayn said that Daemon is ambitious, impetuous and charming, as well as hot-tempered.
Daemon was a well-known warrior who was skilled in the joust and hunting as well as swordplay.
Daemon had many friends in King’s Landing. He was especially popular in Flea Bottom [1] and among the golden cloaks[9] but he was also very disliked by Ser Otto Hightower.[1]
[1]
Histories
Early life
Daemon was the second child of Prince Baelon Targaryen (his sister-wife Princess Alyssa Targaryen) and was born in 81 AC during the reign of his grandfather King Jaehaerys II Targaryen. Daemon was the second son of Prince a href=”https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Baelon_Targaryen (son_of_Jaehaerys_I)”>Baelon Targaryen (son_of_Jaehaerys I_Targaryen”), during the reign of his grandfather, King a href=”https://awoiaerys_I_Targaryen”>Jaerys_I_Targaryen]>Jaerys I Targaryen”>Jaerys I Targaryen]>Jaerys_I_Targaryen] title=”Jaerys I Targaryen]
Daemon was knighted when he was sixteen years old, and King Jaehaerys II Targaryen gave him Dark Brother.[1]
Daemon, who married Lady Rhea, the heir of Runestone in 97 AC, was not a fan of her. [1] Daemon supported Prince Viserys’ claim to the title of heir after his brother during the Great Council of 101 AC. Daemon assembled a small army consisting of men-at-arms and sworn swords to defend his son, Laenor Velaryon’s rights.
Viserys I in the early days of his reign
In the tourney for King Viserys II’s accession, in 104AC, Ser Criston Cole defeated Daemon twice, winning him first in the melee, then the joust.
Daemon was made Commander of the City Watch at King’s Landing. This position he excelled in and maintained for two consecutive years to Otto’s dismay. With two thousand men under his command, he became more powerful than ever.
Daemon instilled loyalty among many rank-and-file members of the City Watch by improving their armaments, equipment and influencing them to be loyal. Every man was given a gold cloak by Daemon, and the City Watch became known as the golden cloaks. Daemon gave every man a golden cloak, which led to the guards being known as the gold cloaks.
Daemon gained a bad reputation for his involvement in brothels and stews in Flea Bottom. Daemon was the “Prince” of the City. However, he became “Lord Flea Bottom”, among the King’s Landing residents.
Daemon considered himself his brother’s heir, as Viserys did not have any living sons. He also wanted the title Prince Of Dragonstone which the king refused. Otto Hightower was equally against Daemon following Viserys, and suggested that Viserys’s daughter Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen should be named heir. Viserys didn’t address the question of inheritance. He hoped a future son might settle the matter.
Aemma Arryn was Viserys’s first wife. She died shortly after giving birth to Baelon Tarrayen. This is Viserys’ second son. Baelon, however, died the day after his birth. Daemon was seen in a brothel on the Street of Silk, making drunken jokes about the “heir for one day”. The grieving Viserys heard about this and made Rhaenyra the Princess of Dragonstone and heir. The angry Daemon quit the gold cloaks and flew along with Mysaria on Caraxes from Dragonstone. He was unable to attend Rhaenyra’s ceremony in Red Keep.
Daemon, a Dragonstone dweller, had Mysaria as his wife. Daemon wanted to give Mysaria a dragon eggs but the angry Viserys demanded that Daemon return his egg and return to Rhea, the Vale. Mysaria was sent by Daemon to Lys. However, Mysaria’s ship crashed in the narrow ocean. Mysaria then lost the child. This made Daemon more bitter than his brother
Conquest of the Stepstones
Corlys Velaryon Lord of the Tides and Daemon allied themselves in 106 AC for a private war against the Stepstones. Corlys wanted to free the Stepstones from the Triarchy’s rule and Daemon desired his own kingdom. Corlys was the Velaryon fleet’s captain, while Daemon flew on Caraxes, his dragon, and led an army full of adventurers and second-siblings.
Craghas Drahar was defeated by Daemon in 108 AC. He also made enemies from Lys and Myr. Daemon was crowned by Corlys, the Sea Snake, after he conquered all but two islands. To retake the islands, the Triarchy sent a huge fleet under Racallio. Dorne joined in the alliance against Daemon.
Return to Court
Daemon gives his crown to King, his brother Viserys I Targaryen Chase Stone as shown in ‘The Chase Stone Story’ The World of Ice & Fire .
Daemon, fed up with ruling his small kingdom, returned to King’s Landing in 111 A.C. during the tourney that gave greens and blacks their names. By offering his Stepstones crown, he reconciled himself with Viserys II Targaryen. Viserys II Targaryen was happy to see his brother return, and Daemon was granted a seat in the small council.
However, neither age nor exile had affected Daemon’s nature. Daemon reunited with his City Watch friends and went back to the Street of Silk brothels. Daemon was cold with Viserys’ second wife, Queen Hightower and her children. Daemon spent hours with Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. He praised her beauty and entertained her with stories of his adventures. Daemon gave Princess pearls and silks as well as a jade Tiara that was once the property of the Empress Leng. Rhaenyra and Daemon often flew to Dragonstone aboard their dragons, Caraxes or Syrax.
Six months after Daemon returned, the brothers fell out once more. Grand Maester Runciter was referring to an unspecified quarrel, while others claimed that Alicent wanted Daemon gone. Septon Eustace claimed that Daemon had seduced Rhaenyra and taken her maidenhood before her sixteenth birthday. Ser Arryk Cargyll, the Kingsguard, found the two of them. Rhaenyra expresses her love for Daemon in Eustace’s story. Instead, the Mushroom claimed that Daemon had been teaching Rhaenyra explicit lessons in how to seduce Ser Criston Cole, her champion from the Kingsguard, with whom she was supposedly in lust. Criston refused Rhaenyra’s approach. Lyonel Strong Lord Harrenhal advised the angry Viserys that Daemon should die for treason. Eustace reminded the council of the taint kinslaying and Daemon was exiled. Daemon returned to Bloodstone and resumed his struggle for his barren kingdom.
Second marriage
Daemon and Laena Velaryon By chillyravenart
Rhea, Daemon’s spouse, was killed in a fall from a horse in 115 AC. Daemon left the Stepstones to fly to the Vale of Arryn in order to claim Runestone. However, House Royce refused to grant him the seat. Daemon was sent away from the Vale by Lady Jeyne ARRYN and flew to Driftmark to see the charming Laena, who was the daughter of his friend Lord Corlys. He asked for the House Royce’s hand in marriage. Laena had been married to the son of a late sealord of Braavos. However, Daemon killed the Braavosi and Dark Sister in an duel. Although some claim that Daemon fell for Laena at first glance, others say that he married into the mighty House Velaryon to stop his descent from power.
Daemon and Laena departed Westeros to join Essos because the marriage was not approved by King Viserys II Targaryen. Mushrooms claim that the couple went to Valyria’s ruins, but other reliable sources suggest they visited the Free Cities, including Pentos and Volantis as well as Qohor and Norvos. They returned to Pentos for a while, and discovered that Laena was pregnant. Their daughters, Rhaena and Baela, were born in Pentos in 116 AC.
The family returned to Driftmark when the twins turned half-a-year old. Daemon wrote to his brother asking for permission to present his daughters at court for a royal blessing. While the small council recommended that the king refuse, Viserys informed Grand Maester Mallos that Daemon was now a father. He will be different. “[1]
Viserys’ daughter, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen was married to Laena’s brother, Ser Laenor Velaryon. Although Rhaenrya was not fond of her stepmother, Queen Alicent Hightower she grew to love Laena and flew together on their dragons. Rhaenyra married her two eldest children, Jacaerys (1] ) with the blessing of King Viserys.
Laena was trying to conceive a son when she died in 120AC. Later in the year, Laenor was murdered by Ser Qarl Correy. Mushroom claims that it was Daemon who orchestrated the death of Laenor, paying Qarl to do so. Some believe Harwin Breakbones to be the father of Rhaenyra and her children with Laenor (Jacaerys Lucerys and Joffrey Velaryon), so Septon Eustace included Daemon among the possible suspects in the mysterious fire.
Third marriage
Daemon and Rhaenyra Targaryen By chillyravenart
In 120 AC at the age of thirty-nine, Daemon married again, this time to his niece, Rhaenyra Targaryen, the twenty-three-year-old Princess of Dragonstone. The marriage took place suddenly, without King Viserys I Targaryen’s knowledge. It was also scandalous, as neither Laena nor Laenor Velaryon had been alive for six months.
Daemon and Rhaenyra had 2 sons together: Prince Aegon, born in 120 AC and Prince Viserys in 122 AC.
In 126AC, Rhaenyra urged Lord Corlys Velaryon for his second son, Lucerys Velaryon. Rhaenyra seized Ser Vaemond Velaryon’s nephew and claimed that Rhaenyra was the father of three of her first children, a href=”https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Years_after_Aegon%27s_Conquest#Year_126_After_the_Conquest”>Corlys Velaryon”>Lucerys Velaryon”>Lucerys Velaryon”>Lucerys Velaryon”>Lucerys Velaryon>Lucerys Velaryon/a>Lucerys Velaryon/a>Lucerys Velaryon]
The Dance of Dragons
The Dance of the Dragons was started by the death of King Viserys II Targaryen at 129AC. Rhaenyra Targaryen had been Viserys’s first wife. However, the Greens kept the death of the king secret from Dragonstone. Ser Otto Hightower was the father of Queen Alicent Hightower. He objected to Daemon’s idea of him as his king consort. Ser Criston col claimed that Rhaenyra would make the Red Keep a brothel. Criston crowned Alicent’s child, Aegon, the Elder, as King Aegon I Targaryen.
Rhaenyra, who was still pregnant with Princess Visenya on Dragonstone gave birth to a stillborn child, Princess Visenya . Rhaenyra attributed the child’s demise to the greens. Daemon suggested that the black council should court the Great Houses. They had not yet publicly supported Aegon II. Daemon, a rival coronation of Rhaenyra on Dragonstone, placed the crown of King Jaehaerys II Targaryen on the head his wife. He declared himself Protector of The Realm.
Daemon, an experienced warrior, led the attack on Harrenhal. He captured the castle from Ser Simon Strong, its castellan. Daemon’s victory enabled the riverlands support Rhaenyra. [11] Daemon also captured the castle from its castellan, Ser Simon Strong. He then landed Caraxes on top of Kingspyre Tower.
[11]
The Battle Above the Gods’ Eye Douglas Wheatley’s illustration of a. Fire & Blood .
Daemon’s enemies from his previous adventures returned to haunt the blacks after Ser Otto Hightower became the Hand to the King II and recruited the Triarchy for a fleet to attack them. [9]
When Criston and Aemond began marching towards Harrenhal with a group of greens, Daemon abandoned Harrenhal. Daemon instead flew Caraxes to the capital to assist Rhaenyra in the fall King’s Landing to Criston and Aemond.
Rhaenyra sent Daemon, Nettles and Caraxes to their dragons, Sheepstealer and Sheepstealer to search for Aemond, Vhagar who were setting fire in the riverlands. Daemon made Maidenpool his base and kept Nettles, a 17-year-old Dragonseed by his side at all time. Mushroom said that Daemon had taken Nettles to his bed as his lover. Maester Norren wrote the contrary, claiming that Daemon took Nettles into his bed as his lover.
Rhaenyra was stunned by the betrayals of Ser Hugh Hammer & Ser Ulf white at the First Battle of Tumbleton. Mysaria informed Mysaria that Nettles was sleeping in Daemon’s bed. Rhaenyra informed Lord Manfryd Mooton that Nettles must be killed. Manfryd refused to follow the order and Norren presented the letter to Daemon. The prince responded, “A queen’s words, a woman’s work.” Daemon thanked the maester and allowed a weeping Nettles to safely disappear on Sheepstealer. Daemon also publicly announced his departure to Harrenhal that day. [8]
Daemon’s arrival on Caraxes sent the squatters fleeing Harrenhal. The prince waited in solitude for Aemond. He slashed the castle’s heart Tree each evening at sunset, an weirwood within the godswood. Aemond, his paramour Rivers, arrived at Vhagar on the fourteenth day after Daemon had been waiting. The Battle Above the Gods Eye saw the dragons engage in a scuffle, but Daemon jumped from his saddle to drive Dark Sister into Aemond’s blind eye. Caraxes crawled to the shore and both dragons crashed into Gods Eye. Vhagar and Aemond’s bodies were found in the lake many years later. The bodies of Vhagar and Aemond were found in the lake years later.
Legacy
Daemon’s body wasn’t recovered from the Gods Eye. Singers claim that he lived to share his remaining days with Nettles.
Daemon did not achieve his goal of sitting on the Iron Throne. However, his sons Aegon II and Viserys I succeeded. Daemon Waters was named by Princess Daena Targaryen in 170 AC after her grandfather.[12]
13 slashes that Daemon made on the Harrenhal are believed to bleed every spring. [8]
