Daemon Targaryen

Prince Daemon Targaryen was a member of House Targaryen, being the youngest son of Prince Baelon Targaryen and brother of King Viserys I Targaryen. Daemon was the second husband of Rhaenyra Targaryen, Princess of Dragonstone, following Ser Laenor Velaryon.

Pseudonym(s): Prince of the City "The Rebel Prince" "Lord of Flea Bottom" Title(s): Commander of the King's Landing Patrol Master of Coin Master of Laws King of Steps and the Narrow Sea Lord of Pedrarruna (claimed) Territory Protector Allegiance: House Targaryen The Blacks Culture: Valyria Birth: 81 AD Death: 130 AD, in God's Eye Wife: 1st: Rhea Royce 2nd: Laena Velaryon 3rd: Rhaenyra Targaryen Child(ren): Baela Targaryen Rhaena Targaryen A stillborn child Aegon III Targaryen Viserys II Targaryen Visenya Targaryen

Daemon was described by Maester Yandel as bold, daring, and dangerous, but quick-tempered and quick to take offense. Archmaester Gyldayn described Daemon as ambitious, impetuous, and temperamental, and in fact as charming as he was hot-headed. Daemon was a skilled warrior renowned in jousting, hunting, and swordsmanship. He was unfaithful to his third wife, Rhaenyra Targaryen, taking Mysaria and possibly Nettles as lovers. Daemon had many friends in King's Landing, especially in Flea Bottom and among the Gold Cloaks, as well as in Pentos. However, he also had many enemies, being intensely hated by Ser Otto Hightower. According to the artwork in Fire & Blood and The World of Ice & Fire, Daemon had silver hair and wore plate armor. While commanding the City Watch of King's Landing, he wore a golden cloak and tunic depicting the three-headed dragon of House Targaryen. He wielded the Dark Sister, a Valyrian steel sword, and rode on Caraxes.

Daemon was the second son of Prince Baelon Targaryen and his sister-wife, Alyssa, born in 81 AD during the reign of his grandfather, King Jaehaerys I Targaryen. He had an older brother, Viserys, and a younger brother, Aegon. During his youth, Daemon's face was familiar to every thief, prostitute, and gambler in Flea Bottom. He was knighted at age 16 and King Jaehaerys I gave him the sword Dark Sister. Daemon's first marriage was to Mrs. Rhea Royce, but he never liked her or the Arryn Vale. During the Great Council of 101 AC, Daemon supported Prince Viserys's claim, as this would make him the heir behind his elder brother. Daemon gathered a small army when rumors circulated claiming that Lord Corlys Velaryon was gathering a fleet to support his son, Laenor Velaryon's claim to the crown.

Ser Criston Cole twice defeated Daemon in the tourney for King Viserys I's accession in 104 AC. Daemon later asked his brother for permission to discard his first marriage, but was refused. Daemon served briefly as master of coin from 103 AC to 104 AC and master of laws for six months thereafter. Government administration bored Daemon, and the prince's behavior created a rivalry with the Hand of the King, Ser Otto Hightower, who could not stand Daemon's presence and petitioned King Viserys to remove him from the small council. Daemon was then appointed commander of the City Watch of King's Landing, a position in which he distinguished himself and held for at least two years, much to Ser Otto's disappointment as Daemon, with two thousand men under his command, was now more powerful than ever. Daemon inspired loyalty in his City Watch men, improving their equipment and weaponry. He gave each man a golden cloak (which became the common nickname for the guard of King's Landing). Crime in the city fell during Daemon's rule, likely due to his love of inflicting harsh punishments on thieves and pickpockets. Daemon developed a dark reputation in the capital's stews and brothels. He befriended a prostitute named Mysaria, who became his "whispermaster" on the streets of Flea Bottom. While Daemon called himself "Prince of the City", he became known as "Lord of Flea Bottom" among the residents of King's Landing. Daemon considered himself the heir to his older brother Viserys I, as the latter had no son, and claimed the title of Prince of Dragonstone, a title the king refused to grant him. Otto Hightower also did not want Daemon to succeed to the Iron Throne, and proposed that Viserys's daughter, Princess Rhaenyra, should be his heir.

Viserys, however, did not pay immediate attention to the question of succession, still hoping that he might have a male child. Viserys' first wife, Aemma Arryn, died giving birth to Baelon Targaryen. However, Baelon died the day after his birth. Daemon was seen in a brothel on Silk Street making "heir for a day" jokes. When news of this reached Viserys, the king decided to proclaim Princess Rhaenyra as his heir. Daemon left the capital in a rage. On Dragonstone, Daemon impregnated his lover, Mysaria. He wanted to give her a dragon egg. An enraged Viserys demanded that Daemon return the egg and return to his wife, Rhea, in the Vale. Daemon sent Mysaria to Lys, but when the ship was caught in a storm in the middle of the narrow sea, Mysaria lost her son. This only increased the enmity between Daemon and Viserys.

In 106 AC, Daemon, mounted on his dragon Caraxes, led an army in an invasion of the Stepstones south of the Narrow Sea, supported by Lord Corlys Velaryon and his fleet. He made several enemies in the Triarchy (Myr, Tyrosh, and Lys) during his adventures in the Stepstones. He also made enemies in the Seven Kingdoms, including Ser Otto Hightower and members of House Royce, for his disrespect towards his wife Rhea. After conquering all but two of the islands in the Stepstones, Daemon declared himself King of the Stepstones and the Narrow Sea in 109 AC, and was crowned by Corlys the Sea Snake. The Triarchy then sent a massive fleet under Racallio Ryndoon to retake the islands, with Dorne joining them in fighting Daemon. Bored with ruling his small kingdom, Daemon returned to King's Landing in 111 AC during the tourney that gave the green and black factions their respective nicknames. He reconciled with King Viserys I Targaryen, offering him his crown as "King of the Stepstones". Viserys accepted his brother's rapprochement, and Daemon was given a seat on the small council. Neither exile nor age softened Daemon's nature, however. He returned to congregate with his old comrades of the City Watch of King's Landing and once again frequented the brothels of the Silken Street. Daemon was cold to Viserys's second wife, Queen Alicent Hightower, and her children, who pushed him further down the line to the Iron Throne. Daemon spent hours keeping his niece, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, company, praising her beauty, regaling her with tales of his adventures, giving her gifts, and mocking her stepmother and her greens. Six months after his return, rumors began to circulate that Daemon had taken Rhaenyra's virginity before her sixteenth birthday. Lord Lyonel Strong advised an angry Viserys that he should have Daemon executed for treason.

Septa Eustace, however, reminded the small council that this would amount to regicide (since Daemon was a member of the royal family), and Daemon was merely exiled again. The prince returned to Bloodstone in the Stepstones and resumed the fighting on the islands.

Daemon's first wife, Rhea Royce, died in a fall from her horse in 115 AC. Daemon set out for the Vale of Arryn to claim Runestone, but was refused by House Royce. No longer welcome in the Vale, Daemon returned to Driftmark, where he began courting Laena Velaryon, the beautiful daughter of his friend Lord Corlys. After killing Laena's betrothed, the son of the Sealord of Braavos, Daemon asked Corlys for his daughter's hand. While some claim that Daemon fell in love with Laena at first sight, many claim that he actually wanted to join the powerful House Velaryon to increase his own power, as Viserys had two sons by his second marriage, and he had fallen further and further down the line of succession, also increasing his list of enemies in King's Landing due to his adventures. Since King Viserys I Targaryen did not give his consent to this marriage, Daemon and Laena had to leave Westeros, abandoning the Stepstones, and traveling through the Free Cities. They remained in Pentos for a time until they discovered that Laena was pregnant. She would give birth to twin daughters, Baela and Rhaena, in 116 AC. Daemon then wrote to his brother, asking permission to present his daughters at court and receive the royal blessing. The small council urged the king to refuse, but Viserys disagreed, stating, "Daemon is a father now. He will have changed." Viserys's daughter, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, had married Laena's brother, Ser Laenor Velaryon. While Rhaenrya hated her stepmother, Queen Consort Alicent Hightower, she was fond of Laena, and the two often flew together on their dragons. With King Viserys's blessing, Rhaenyra betrothed her two eldest sons, Jacaerys and Lucerys Velaryon, to Daemon's daughters Baela and Rhaena. Laena died in 120 AC, giving birth to her son (who also died).

In 120 AC, Daemon married again, this time to his niece, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (whose husband, Laenor, had died that same year). The wedding took place quickly and without the knowledge of King Viserys I. This was a scandal as their spouses had died not even six months ago. According to Mushroom, Daemon would have paid Ser Qarl Correy to kill Laenor, thus making Rhaenyra available to marry again. Daemon and Rhaenyra would have two children together, the princes Aegon the Young, born in 120 AD, and Viserys, born in 122 AD. They also had a stillborn daughter, Princess Visenya, whose birth took place in the third month of 129 AD.

Although King Viserys I Targaryen had decreed that his eldest daughter, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, would be his heir, Ser Criston Cole of the Kingsguard crowned Aegon II Targaryen, the king's son by his second wife, Alicent Hightower, as the new monarch upon Viserys's death in 129 AC. This succession dispute would lead to a violent civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons. Prince Daemon, Rhaenyra's husband, was the most experienced warrior in Westeros. When the blacks crowned Rhaenyra as queen at Dragonstone, it was Daemon who placed the crown (that of Jaehaerys I) upon her head, proclaiming her Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and himself Protector of the Realm. Daemon led the attack on Harrenhal, taking the castle from Ser Simon Strong without a fight, landing with Caraxes in Kingspyre Tower. After learning of the death of his stepson, Prince Lucerys Velaryon, at the hands of his nephew, Prince Aemond Targaryen, Daemon, through his spymaster and former lover Mysaria, hired two assassins, Blood and Cheese, to assassinate Aegon II's son. The enemies Daemon had made during his lifetime became his main adversaries in the war, such as Ser Otto Hightower, now Hand of the King to Aegon II, who managed to recruit the Triarchy to assemble a fleet against the blacks. The Battle of the Gullet broke the naval might of House Velaryon and ended their blockade of Blackwater Bay, and killed another of Daemon's stepsons, the boy Jacaerys. Daemon abandoned Harrenhal when he learned that Aemond and Criston had gathered an army of greens to march against him. Daemon, flying Caraxes, circled the enemy army, and made his way to King's Landing, where he helped Rhaenyra take the city. While searching for Aemond and Vhagar, who were burning the Riverlands, Daemon took Nettles, a dragonrider, as his lover and made Maidenpool his base of operations.

Maester Norren informed Daemon that Queen Rhaenyra wanted Nettles dead, to which Daemon reportedly replied, "A queen's words, a whore's work." Daemon thanked the maester for the warning, and he and Nettles parted ways the next morning. Daemon returned to Harrenhal and challenged Prince Aemond to combat, waiting for him for thirteen days until Aemond finally appeared. The two fought a fierce battle known as "the Battle above the Gods Eye" in which both princes, and their dragons, died. Daemon was 49 years old at the time of his death. His body was never found. Some singers claim that Daemon actually survived and fled with Nettles, but most maesters disagree. Daemon never achieved his ambition of sitting on the Iron Throne, but his two sons, Aegon III and Viserys II, did. In 170 AC, Princess Daena Targaryen named her bastard son Daemon, in honor of his grandfather.

“Make no mistake, if Rhaenyra sits the Iron Throne, it will be Daemon who rules, a king as cruel and ruthless as Maegor ever was.” —— Ser Otto Hightower to the Small Council of King Viserys I Targaryen.

“ Daemon: If I wasn't alone, you wouldn't have come. Aemond: There you are, and here I am. You have lived long enough, uncle. Daemon: We agree on that.

” —— Prince Daemon Targaryen and Prince Aemond Targaryen at Harrenhal.