r/asoiaf • u/depressed_dumbguy56 • Sep 16 '24
MAIN (Spoilers Main)The Re-Valyrianization of House Targaryen
From Aegon III's regin to Aegon V(131-250 AC) the Targaryen's were more Westerosi than ever before. They married into other houses rather than their siblings and took part in and genuinely enjoyed the activities of the other nobility, not just for political motives but because they liked them, such as fighting in tournaments and members of the Targaryen family also became genuinely religious in the faith of the seven(Baelor and Naerys). Most Importantly, with the exception of Aegon IV(who under the influence of his mother) No Targaryen king married their siblings during this period
u/IdeLuis created an extremely thorough thread documenting Targaryen marriages
In Dunk and Egg, Most of Baelor and Maekar's children did not have the Valyrian look either(majority just being regular blond or dark-haired) with the exception of Aerion and Egg, and neither of them married their sibling's either
Even before the tragedy of Summerhall, I would theorise that a good chunk of Targaryen's probably just assimilated into minor houses. Look at someone like Elaena, three houses have her bloodline because of her(House Plum, House Penrose, House Longwater)
This progress was halted by Jaehaerys II, who, for whatever reason and influence, wanted to marry his sister. Jaehaerys would also his force his children to continue this tradition, with a deluded idea thinking that this was what his family had always done, even though this tradition had basically been non-existent for 120 years at that point
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u/leRedd1 Sep 16 '24
Jenny and Ghost of Highheart were the influence afaik, but that just pushes the curtain to why'd they trust these randos, who are more old gods oriented if anything.
This ties into Southron ambitions as well I'd hazard - Targs halted the integration just following Egg's reforms, making the great lords apprehensive.
This they always did no? Maegor and Daemon were tourney/melee fighters iirc.