Westeros loves its wars loud and clear, banners flying, swords clashing, legends born in blood. However, some of its most dramatic moments strike even more when you zoom out and follow the family lines. One of the wildest examples? The revolution that overthrew House Targaryen was not only a political one.
It was, silently and tragically, a battle between cousins. Yes, Rhaegar Targaryen and Robert Baratheon were brothers. Family, but far away. And that fact makes the Battle of the Trident a much more personal affair than the books acknowledge.
Egg’s Legacy Ended In Blood At The Trident
Aegon V Targaryen, or, as he is commonly referred to, Egg, is remembered as the king who became a squire. However, what is less discussed is how his bloodline influenced the future of Westeros.
Egg had a daughter, Rhaelle Targaryen, who married Ormund Baratheon, Lord of Storm’s End. Their marriage bound the dragon and the stag in a manner that would reverberate decades later.
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From that marriage came Steffon Baratheon, and from Steffon came Robert, Stannis, and Renly. In the meantime, Egg’s grandson, Jaehaerys II, had fathered Aerys II, the Mad King, who had fathered Rhaegar and Daenerys. That makes Robert and Rhaegar second cousins, both of them having Egg as a great-grandfather.
And when Robert plunged his warhammer into Rhaegar’s beast at the Trident, he was not only destroying a dynasty. He was killing family.
When Robert Baratheon Killed Rhaegar, He Also Killed A Relative
In the eyes of Robert, rage, love, and betrayal were the forces behind the rebellion: Lyanna Stark, a mad king, a stolen future. However, ancestry does not disappear simply because politics implode. Blood remembers.
Rhaegar was not a nameless enemy general. He was the son of the same family that had given Robert his claim, name, and, ironically, his reason to rule. This was one of the reasons why the Baratheon rebellion was successful: Robert was half Targaryen.
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The kingdom was willing to accept him as a king since he was not a total outsider. That is the inhuman poetry of it all. Egg had a dream of bringing the kingdom together and alleviating the plight of ordinary people. His descendants, generations later, killed one another in a war that destroyed the same realm.
It redefines Robert’s rebellion as a more haunting thing. It not only showcases the downfall of dragons, but also the downfall of a family itself.
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