Alright, pull up a chair and let’s settle the most important mystery in Westerosi genealogy: Exactly how old was Rhaenys Targaryen when her grandpa-uncle-cousin-king Aemon the Dragonknight died? Spoiler: it’s weirder than you think.
First, you need to know that King Aemon—the legendary knight, not the Maester—died in 178 AC after a long, heroic life. He was the fourth Targaryen king, and his death was basically the medieval equivalent of a rockstar OD’ing on honor and chivalry.
Now, Rhaenys—the one we’re talking about—was the daughter of Aemon’s son, Prince Daeron. She was also the only child of Daeron, who tragically died in 171 AC from a plague they called the “Great Spring Sickness.”
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So when Aemon died in 178 AC, Rhaenys was born seven years earlier—in 171 AC. Do the subtraction, and you get Rhaenys was seven years old. Seven! That’s like a second-grader losing her last living grandparent.
But here’s where it gets juicy: historians argue about her exact birth year because Targaryens were notoriously bad at keeping records. They were too busy marrying siblings and riding dragons to fill out birth certificates.
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If we trust the most popular timeline, Rhaenys was seven years, three months, and maybe a fortnight old. That’s old enough to start crying, but young enough to think “Dragonknight” was a superhero from a storybook.
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Rhaenys’s age is a big deal because she was the only living heir to Aemon’s throne—except for a distant cousin named Viserys. Yes, the same Viserys who would later sit the Iron Throne and kick off the Dance of the Dragons drama.
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Imagine being seven and learning you’re the backup heir to a kingdom of fire-breathing lizards. That’s like being told you’re the emergency pilot of a 747—terrifying, hilarious, and probably a prank.
And here’s the kicker: Rhaenys’s father, Prince Daeron, died before his own father Aemon. So when Aemon kicked the bucket, little Rhaenys wasn’t just an orphan—she was a seven-year-old orphan with a claim to the crown. Talk about peer pressure.
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A Surprising Twist from the Books
If you dig into George R.R. Martin’s lore, you’ll find a fun fact: Rhaenys wasn’t even at Aemon’s funeral. She was probably still in the nursery, playing with wooden dragons and crying over a scraped knee. The Seven Kingdoms literally skipped a generation of heirs because she was too young to rule.
So, final answer? Rhaenys was seven—maybe six, maybe eight, depending on which half-mad maester you ask. But seven is the sweet spot. Seven gods, seven kingdoms, seven years old. Coincidence? Absolutely. But it’s a fun number to say at parties.
Next time you’re arguing about Targaryen timelines, remember: a seven-year-old almost lost a throne because she was too busy learning how to braid her hair. That’s Westeros for you—dumb, dramatic, and absolutely addictive.