SerBronnsMullet Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 Rank em! The Greats 1. Aegon I2. Jaeherys I Tough call between the two greats but I'll give the nod to the creator of the country. It is tough to top that even though the Dornish war was kind of a debacle. Good Kings 3. Daeron II4. Aegon V5. Viserys II These guys were all very diligent kings though did not quite achieve the greatness of Aegon I or Jaeherys I. Who knows what could have happened if Viserys lived longer of if Egg's sons weren't dopes. The Solid Group 6. Aegon III 7. Viserys I 8. Jaeherys II9. Maekar I The kings in this group did not possess spectacular gifts but they seemed to do a decent job at holding the realm together during their reigns. It is probably controversial to put Aegon III this high but I think he did a very good job maintaining the realm given the nearly impossible situation he faced after the brutal dance. Viserys I had many charms and he would perhaps be considered a great king if there was no conflict during his realm. Unfortunately, his desire to please everyone and his foolish decisions to remarry and then name Rhaenyra his heir caused lasting damage to the realm. Jaeherys is described as weak but ironically he had more military success then almost any other Targ king. I really have no idea where to put Maekar so this group seems good. Rollercoaster Kings 10. Baelor I11. Aerys I12. Daeron I13. Maegor I14. Aegon II15. Rhaenyra I The kings (and queen) in this group are some of the most interesting figures in ASIOAF. Baelor, Daeron, and Maegor possessed enormous talent and crippling vices. Probably less so with Aegon and Rhaenyra (I'll count her here since she basically did reign for a time) but their reigns were certainly turbulent. Maegor is an interesting case because he did save the monarchy during his reign and his brother's, but he was also a monster and tyrant. Daeron was a military genius who waged an amazing campaign but it ultimately ended in disaster. Baelor accomplished much good for the smallfolk and started the process of bringing Dorne into the realm but he was also a complete lunatic. Aerys is kind of the oddball here because he doesn't really fit the theme and it's tough to rank him because he didn't actually do much but I'll give him some credit for appointing Bloodraven and not doing anything too crazy. Interesting enough the bottom three people in this group were all forcibly removed from their thrones. The Garbage Kings 15. Aenys I16. Aegon IV17. Aerys II The worst of the worst. All of these kings did the best they possibly could to destroy the Targaryen monarchy and Aerys finally succeeded at it. I feel bad for Aenys and I suppose you could put him in the group above but his weakness was disastrous. Curious to see how everyone's rankings. If we include the two "Baratheons" (obviously Tommen is too young) then I would put Robert at 11 below Baelor and Joffrey at 17 above Aerys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonel Green Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/119589-twoiaf-spoilers-ranking-the-targaryen-kings/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glamourweaver Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 Aegon V was quite possibly the best human being to sit the Iron Throne, but he & his kids are a classic example of "love is the death of honor" - as he was too good a person to set aside his compassion and hold them to their marriage pacts for the good of the realm, which is what stopped him from being a "Great King". It is indeed possible his reforms could have had staying power if he'd actually built the political alliances through marriage he needed to get the Great Houses on his side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stangles Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 I agree except for Daeron the 1st. He was only ruler for a year or two wasn't he? We have no data to know what kind of a ruler he would have been outside of war. And even though the war was for naught it didn't really cost the realm anything much other than lives which all kings waste in war. Also he was only very young. That defeat may have taught him the humility he needed to be better at wars and politics. Also not sure about Rhaenyra either.She never really got to rule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aetta Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 Aegon V was quite possibly the best human being to sit the Iron Throne, but he & his kids are a classic example of "love is the death of honor" - as he was too good a person to set aside his compassion and hold them to their marriage pacts for the good of the realm, which is what stopped him from being a "Great King". It is indeed possible his reforms could have had staying power if he'd actually built the political alliances through marriage he needed to get the Great Houses on his side. Egg is a dick. He sentenced my main man to death. Aegon I is the mack daddy. It could be argued that Aegon IV, for all his man whoring, did more to proliferate the blood than any of those who superceded him. By the time we get to Aerys II, the royal Targs have dwindled to but a handful. Plus, he's Lord Badass's pops, so there's that.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glamourweaver Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 Egg is a dick. He sentenced my main man to death. I love Bloodraven too, but what he did needed to be punished, both politically and morally. I'd judge Egg negatively if he hadn't let Bryndon take the Black, but he did, and Bryndon thrived in that role, so it's cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The hairy bear Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 There's this thread already covering this very same topic. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingBlackfyre Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 I agree except for Daeron the 1st. He was only ruler for a year or two wasn't he? We have no data to know what kind of a ruler he would have been outside of war. And even though the war was for naught it didn't really cost the realm anything much other than lives which all kings waste in war. Also he was only very young. That defeat may have taught him the humility he needed to be better at wars and politics. Also not sure about Rhaenyra either.She never really got to rule. He ruled for 4 years only one of which was spent fighting in dorne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SerBronnsMullet Posted November 16, 2014 Author Share Posted November 16, 2014 I agree except for Daeron the 1st. He was only ruler for a year or two wasn't he? We have no data to know what kind of a ruler he would have been outside of war. And even though the war was for naught it didn't really cost the realm anything much other than lives which all kings waste in war. Also he was only very young. That defeat may have taught him the humility he needed to be better at wars and politics. Also not sure about Rhaenyra either.She never really got to rule. The war was a gigantic debacle that killed at least 50k people (probably way more when you include Dornish smallfolk). I included Rhaenyra because she did get to rule for a brief time when the Blacks took KL and she was extremely bad at it as her paranoia almost cost the Blacks the war and her tyranny helped contribute to the Storming of the Dragonpit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stangles Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 The war was a gigantic debacle that killed at least 50k people (probably way more when you include Dornish smallfolk). Well Aegon 1st did the same thing. Aegon was just lucky he did it at the end of his conquering not the start otherwise he may have looked just as bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glamourweaver Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Well Aegon 1st did the same thing. Aegon was just lucky he did it at the end of his conquering not the start otherwise he may have looked just as bad.At least Aegon had a good faith belief (based on past success) that an overwhelming display of force would bring Dorne into line - even if the the Storm Lords and Kings of the Reach had never been able to do it, he had dragons! It was a reasonable belief - though one proven false.Daeron (who didn't even have dragons) should have learned from history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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