If House of the Dragon has taught us anything, the Targaryen dynasty was rather interesting in Game of Thrones. So, that leads us to talk about Aerys II Targaryen, the Mad King, in this new Westeros post. In a sense, this could serve as a brief history for the character as he is due to make an appearance in a new show about The Hedge Knight if HBO picks it up.
So, who was Aerys II Targaryen, the Mad King?
Respected But Not Always The Mad King
Respected by his people, Aerys was not always mad. He was beloved by the people he served. Like most Targaryens, he respected tradition and married one of his sisters, Rhaella. With her, the Mad King had three children; all appearing in the original Game of Thrones series; Rhaegar, Viserys, and Daenerys (yes, THAT Daenerys).
Aerys was a son of Aegon V Targaryen and fought in a war for him. While he was considered ambitious, wise and overall generous, one of his closest friends was Tywin Lannister, who became his Hand of the King. Over time, he became paranoid and despised anyone with any power. Finally, though, he came to hate Tywin.
The Mad King’s paranoia extended to his Small Council and his family. He was imprisoned for six months. This imprisonment began the reason why Aerys became known as the Mad King. He had a ton of people executed. He even had one guy’s wife mutilated, and that burned alive.
Finally, he had Tywin’s son, Jaime, knighted and admitted to the Kingsguard. However, he did it to spite his former friend, not because Jaime was brave.
