If you’ve spent any time in the world of Westeros, you know that family trees in the Seven Kingdoms aren't just complicated—they're often a total disaster. People get confused. They hear "Targaryen" and think of madness, dragons, and silver hair, but the specific lineage of the woman who burned King’s Landing to the ground is actually pretty straightforward once you cut through the lore.
So, who are Daenerys Targaryen parents?
The short answer? Aerys II Targaryen and Rhaella Targaryen.
But saying their names is like looking at the surface of a deep, dark ocean. To really get why Dany is the way she is, you have to look at the "Mad King" and his long-suffering sister-wife. Their marriage was a tragedy. It was a political disaster that ended a three-hundred-year dynasty.
The Mad King: Aerys II Targaryen
Aerys II wasn't always the guy screaming "burn them all." In his youth, he was charming. He was ambitious. People actually liked him. But somewhere along the line, the Targaryen coin flipped, and it landed on the side of insanity.
By the time Daenerys was conceived, Aerys was a shell of a man. He was paranoid. He lived in constant fear of poison and assassins. He wouldn't let blades touch his skin, so his hair grew in matted clumps and his fingernails were like yellow talons. This is the man who fathered the Khaleesi.
He was obsessed with fire. He found a twisted kind of sexual arousal in executions by wildfire. It’s a dark, uncomfortable part of the lore, but it’s essential to understanding the environment surrounding Daenerys's origin. She wasn't born into a loving home; she was the product of a dying, decaying monarchy.
Queen Rhaella: The Forgotten Mother
Rhaella Targaryen is often overshadowed by her husband’s loud, explosive madness. That’s a shame. Honestly, her story is one of the most heartbreaking in George R.R. Martin’s entire A Song of Ice and Fire series.
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She was Aerys’s sister.
Yes, the incest is a major factor here. The Targaryens practiced "keeping the bloodline pure" for centuries to maintain their bond with dragons. Rhaella and Aerys were forced to marry because a woods witch prophesied that the "Prince That Was Promised" would be born from their line. They didn't love each other. In fact, by the end, they arguably hated each other.
Rhaella suffered through years of miscarriages and stillbirths. For a long time, it seemed like Rhaegar (Dany’s much older brother) would be their only surviving child. Then came Viserys. And finally, in the midst of a literal hurricane on the island of Dragonstone, Rhaella gave birth to Daenerys.
She died in the process.
She never got to see her daughter grow up. She never got to see the dragons. She died as the last remnants of her family’s power were being hunted down by Robert Baratheon’s forces.
Why the Identity of Daenerys Targaryen Parents Matters
You might wonder why we’re still talking about this.
It’s because of the "Madness Gene." Throughout the series, the question of whether Daenerys will turn out like her father is the ticking time bomb of the narrative.
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When you ask who are Daenerys Targaryen parents, you're really asking: Is she doomed?
She inherited her father's iron will and his capacity for ruthlessness. But from Rhaella, perhaps, she inherited a sense of resilience. Rhaella endured a monster for decades to ensure her children survived. Daenerys spent her life in exile, eating "the bread of sorrow," as she puts it, driven by the legacy of parents she never actually knew.
The Rhaegar Factor
We can't talk about her parents without mentioning her brother, Rhaegar. Because of the massive age gap, Rhaegar was almost a mythical figure to Dany. He was the "Last Dragon."
A lot of fans initially got confused by the show's "R+L=J" reveal (Jon Snow's parentage). They started questioning if Dany was really who she said she was. There are wild conspiracy theories out there—some suggest she’s the daughter of Ashara Dayne, or that she was swapped at birth.
But the books and the show are pretty firm. She is the daughter of Aerys and Rhaella.
The Timeline of the Fall
To place her birth in context, you have to look at the Rebellion.
- The Tourney at Harrenhal: The beginning of the end. Aerys shows his madness to the world.
- The Death of Brandon and Rickard Stark: Aerys burns them, sparking the war.
- The Battle of the Trident: Rhaegar is killed by Robert Baratheon.
- The Sack of King's Landing: Aerys is killed by Jaime Lannister.
- The Flight to Dragonstone: A pregnant Rhaella flees with young Viserys.
- The Storm: Daenerys Stormborn is born. Rhaella dies.
It’s a brutal timeline. Dany was born into the ashes of her father’s mistakes.
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Separating Fan Theory from Canon
Look, the internet loves a good theory. You’ll find forums dedicated to the idea that Daenerys is actually a bastard or that her "lemon tree" memories in Braavos prove she wasn't raised where she thinks she was.
While those theories add a lot of flavor to the fandom, the factual answer to who are Daenerys Targaryen parents remains the same: The King and Queen of the Seven Kingdoms.
The tragic irony is that Daenerys spent her whole life trying to reclaim a throne that her father lost through sheer insanity. She wanted to "break the wheel," but she was a spoke on that wheel since the moment she was conceived in the Red Keep.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Writers
If you're looking to dive deeper into the Targaryen lineage or if you're writing your own lore-heavy fiction, keep these points in mind:
- Read "Fire & Blood": If you want the gritty details of the Targaryen ancestors leading up to Aerys and Rhaella, this is the textbook. It explains why the incest started and how the madness manifested in earlier generations.
- Contextualize the Madness: Don't just view Aerys as a "villain." View him as the result of a dynasty that had too much power and too little fresh DNA. It makes the tragedy of Daenerys much more poignant.
- Trace the Timeline: Understanding that Daenerys was born after the war was effectively lost changes how you view her claim. She wasn't just a princess; she was a refugee from day one.
The parentage of Daenerys Targaryen is the foundation of her entire identity. It’s why she felt entitled to the world, and perhaps, it’s why she was eventually consumed by it. To understand the daughter, you have to understand the ghosts of the father and mother who left her behind on a storm-swept island.
Explore the family trees in the appendices of A Game of Thrones to see the specific birth and death dates of the Targaryen line, which provide the most accurate chronological framework for the end of the dynasty. Observing the pattern of births and deaths in the Targaryen line reveals just how precarious Daenerys's arrival truly was.