Baelon Targaryen

Pseudonym(s): Baelon the Brave The Prince of Spring Silver Fool Title(s): Prince of Dragonstone Hand of the King Loyalty: House Targaryen Race: Valyrian Culture: Crown Lands Birth: 57 AD Death: 101 AD, at Tower of the Hand, King's Landing Spouse: Alyssa Targaryen Child(ren): Viserys Targaryen Daemon Targaryen Aegon Targaryen

When he was born, he was smaller than his brother Aemon Targaryen, but he was noisier and hungrier. In childhood and early adolescence, he was shorter and less strong than his brother Aemon, but he was faster and fiercer. Baelon is full of energy. Baelon Targaryen, the second son of Jaehaerys I Targaryen and Alysanne Targaryen, inherited the traditional beauty of his house. He has the iconic almost white silver hair, worn long, and deep violet eyes that shine intensely, traits that clearly identify him as a pure Targaryen.

Physically, Baelon is tall, strong, and athletic, with a warrior's build due to his years of military training and combat. He is described as courageous and determined, reflected in his confident expression and firm posture. His skin is fair, and he is usually seen wearing armor adorned with the symbol of dragons, especially when in battle or at important events.

In his daily life, he prefers luxurious clothes in dark colors, such as black and red, in homage to the colors of his house. His imposing presence and natural charisma make him a figure difficult to ignore, both in battles and at court gatherings. Baelon saw in his older brother, Prince Aemon Targaryen, not only a brother, but a rival in everything and his best friend, and he looked up to him in everything he did. The common people loved Baelon the Valiant, and the lords of the realm saw him as the obvious successor to his brother.

In 57 AC, just two days before his birth, White Ravens flew from the Citadel to announce the beginning of spring, and for this reason the prince received the nickname Prince of Spring.[1] Grand Maester Benifer feared enmity between Baelon and his older brother Aemon, as had happened with Aenys and Maegor, but in the end there was no reason for such concerns, for Baelon admired his brother and followed him everywhere, imitating his steps. They were extremely close. When Prince Aemon was old enough to train with swords, Prince Baelon tried to follow in his footsteps as well, but he was too small to hold a sword, so he used a stick to train. Prince Aemon was shy around Dragons, but supposedly Prince Baelon struck Balerion, the Black Dread, in the snout when he first entered the Dragonpit, which earned him the nickname Prince Baelon the Brave. A little later, when Princess Alyssa Targaryen was born in 60 AC, Queen Alysanne Targaryen noticed that the princess was very much like Prince Baelon: bold and fearless. And just as Prince Baelon followed Prince Aemon everywhere in his childhood, Princess Alyssa followed Prince Baelon wherever he went. When Prince Aemon was seven years old, he and Prince Baelon practiced every day in the courtyard, and their duels were so evenly matched and vigorous that they often attracted large crowds. After the death of Princess Daenerys Targaryen, everyone thought that Princess Alyssa should marry Prince Aemon, but Queen Alysanne Targaryen knew that Princess Alyssa and Prince Baelon were inseparable and that this would be the right marriage.

In 72 AC, a tournament was held in Valdocaso to celebrate the marriage of young Lord Darklyn to the daughter of Lord Theomore Manderly. During the tournament, Prince Aemon was the melee champion, defeating Prince Baelon (after he surrendered). Also at the same tournament, Prince Aemon, at age 17, was knighted after performing well in the jousts. Soon after, Prince Aemon took the dragon Caraxes as his mount. Prince Baelon could not be outdone by his brother and rival, so at age 16, in 73 AC, he went to Old Oak, seat of House Oakheart, to participate in a tournament, but presented himself as a Mystery Knight calling himself Silver Fool. In the tournament, he unhorsed Lord Rowan, Ser Alyn Ashford, the two Fossoway twins, and Ser Denys Oakheart, but was defeated by Ser Rickard Redwyne, who knighted him for his feats in the tournament.[1] After the celebration, Prince Baelon went to King's Landing to take a dragon for himself and ended up taking the great Vhagar as his personal mount, the second largest dragon alive, second only to Balerion the Black Dread. He also faced the two Fossoway twins and Ser Denys Oakheart, but was defeated by Ser Rickard Redwyne, who knighted him for his feats in the tournament.[1] After the celebration, Prince Baelon went to King's Landing to take a dragon for himself and ended up taking the great Vhagar as his personal mount, the second largest dragon alive, second only to Balerion the Black Dread. In 75 AC, Prince Baelon married Princess Alyssa Targaryen at the Red Keep. The bride was fifteen years old, and the groom, eighteen. Prince Baelon had not stopped smiling since the wedding. In 77 AC, the couple's first child, Prince Viserys Targaryen, was born. In 81 AC, Prince Aemon was appointed Master of Laws, and Prince Baelon congratulated him. That same year, their second child, Prince Daemon Targaryen, was born.

In 83 AC, the Fourth Dornish War began when the Prince of Dorne, Morion Martell, decided to attack Westeros. However, King Jaehaerys I Targaryen had spies in Dorne, and before they could even land at Cape Wrath, King Jaehaerys I Targaryen, with Vermithor, Prince Aemon with Caraxes, and Prince Baelon with Vhagar, descended from the clouds and ended the invasion before it even began, killing many Dornishmen. That same year, Princess Alyssa Targaryen became pregnant for the second time, and in 84 AC, Prince Baelon's third child was born: Prince Aegon Targaryen. But both the boy and his mother died soon after. Prince Baelon was devastated, but found strength in his two remaining sons. In 86 AC, Prince Baelon showed no interest in any woman, but his sister, Princess Viserra Targaryen, showed interest in her brother, not because she desired him, but because she wished to be queen. When Queen Alysanne Targaryen decided that Princess Viserra should marry Lord Theomore Manderly, the Princess went to Prince Baelon's chambers, got drunk, and waited for him naked to try to seduce him, but he expelled her from the room. Shortly after, she died from a failed attempt at self-indulgence, and Prince Baelon regretted his decision, feeling guilty for his sister's death. In 88 AC, King Jaehaerys I Targaryen departed on a tour of the Westerlands after a quarrel with Queen Alysanne Targaryen, and both Prince Aegon Targaryen and Prince Baelon accompanied him on some of these journeys.

During the event known as the Myrian Bloodbath, two rival factions of Myr fought for supremacy. The defeated faction, expelled from the city and turning to pirates, fled to the Stepstones where they were expelled again and eventually attempted, with temporary success, to seize Tarth from Lord Cameron Tarth. In 92 AC, during the attempt to retake the city, Prince Aemon Targaryen was killed by a dart, which enraged his father, King Jaehaerys I Targaryen, and his brother, Prince Baelon the Brave. Prince Baelon then mounted his dragon Vhagar, wielding Dark Sister, and massacred all the pirates of Myr. Upon returning to King's Landing, he was received as a true hero and honored throughout the city, but when the prince met his mother, he broke down in tears, mourning the death of his brother, best friend, and rival. After the death of his older brother, Prince Aemon, Baelon was named the heir apparent to his father, King Jaehaerys I. Thus, he was named Prince of Dragonstone, overtaking Prince Aemon Targaryen's eldest daughter and only heir, Princess Rhaenys,[5] as Prince Baelon was an experienced knight of thirty-five years and more suited to rule than the eighteen-year-old Princess Rhaenys, but this caused friction with both House Velaryon and House Baratheon. In 99 AC[3][N 1] Prince Baelon was appointed Hand of the King, succeeding Ser Ryam Redwyne who had been deposed. In Queen Alysanne Targaryen's final moments, the only son who remained close to her was Baelon, but he was the Prince of Dragonstone, Hand of the King, so he could not devote all his time to his mother. In one of their meetings, Queen Alysanne Targaryen stated that Prince Baelon would be an even greater King than his father. In that same year, 100 AC, Queen Alysanne Targaryen died.[6] Baelon served admirably, but tragedy struck a year later, in 101 AC, when, during u

During a hunting trip, Baelon complained of a sharp pain in his side. He died within days of a ruptured abdomen in the Tower of the Hand with his father, King Jaehaerys I Targaryen, at his side. After his death, an assembly of lords held the first Great Council to answer the question of who would succeed King Jaehaerys after his death.[4][5] Baelon's eldest son, Viserys, was chosen and succeeded Jaehaerys I two years later as King Viserys I.