“The Iron Throne is mine by rights. All those that deny that are my foes.”

The Dance of the Dragons was a war steeped in ambition, betrayal, and tragedy, a civil war that tore Westeros apart and led to the deaths of 17 dragons—creatures once seen as the ultimate symbol of Targaryen power. This quote encapsulates the fierce determination of both Rhaenyra Targaryen and her half-brother, Aegon II, as they vied for the Iron Throne.

The seeds of this conflict were sown when King Viserys I named his daughter Rhaenyra as his heir, only to have this decision challenged by the birth of his son Aegon. The result was a bitter struggle that would plunge the realm into chaos.

“When dragons fight, it is the common folk who suffer.”

The war's horrors were not limited to the battlefield.

As the dragons clashed in the skies, Westeros was engulfed in a storm of fire and blood. The common folk, who had no stake in the battle for the Iron Throne, bore the brunt of the devastation. The Battle of Rook's Rest was a stark example of this, where Rhaenys Targaryen, riding the dragon Meleys, was slain in a fiery aerial duel against Aegon II's Sunfyre and Vhagar. The destruction was immense, and the loss of such majestic creatures was a blow not only to the Targaryens but to the realm itself​​​​.

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