Potential and unknown Targaryens.

[DaenerysTheDragon]

I know this question has already been raised here but I'm really interested in the prospect of unknown Targaryens around.Can anyone make a list of all the loose ends of their family tree,possible children,bastards? I've seen a giant post on this forum where there were possible descendants of Sara and Jacaerys,Daemon and Nettles,Rhae,Daella and many others.This was a great list,but I seem to have lost it.Can anyone remake it? 

[James Steller]

Do Jaime and Cersei count? Because if they aren’t actually half-Targaryens then GRRM has really dedicated himself to that red herring.

 

[The Commentator]

There are a lot of people who carry the Targaryen DNA around.  I doubt if they can be called Targaryen.  Proof is important.  Everybody will require proof.  And these people with Targaryen blood may not even know.  

[TheLastWolf]

OP

 

Just ask @Megorova

Spoiler

Also there is no need for additional dragonseeds (known and secret) in the story, because there are already a lot of them:

Dany, Jon, Rhaego, fAegon, Varys, Barristan Selmy, Brienne, Hodor, Clegane Bros, Meris/Wenda, Brown Ben Plumm, Petyr Baelysh (thru the Bastard of Harrenhal/first Lord Whent); {Arya, Sansa, Bran, Rickon, Robert Arryn, Edmure Tully} thru Minisa Whent; Shella Whent (if she is still alive), Wynafrei Whent (married with a Frey); Bloodraven, Shiera Seastar, Martells (because current Martells are, most likely, descendants of Aliandra Martell and Drazenko Rogare from Lys); Stannis, Shireen, Gendry and other bastards of Robert Baratheon (because current Baratheons are descendants of princess Rhaelle Targaryen); the Black Pearl of Braavos and her siblings and parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents and multiple cousins (descendants of Aegon IV); and other people who are descended from Aegon IV's multiple bastards; [House Plumm, House Hightower, House Penrose, House Longwaters] <- all of them descended from marriages/unions with Targaryen princesses; House Velaryon, House Celtigar <- Valyrians that migrated to Westeros with Targaryens prior the Doom.

There were more listed later

Spoiler

On 7/27/2020 at 11:34 PM, TheLastWolf said:

Do me a favor and list only those alive later.

Everyone in that list ARE alive, except several of Robert Baratheon's bastards. I didn't included in my list those dragonseeds, that are already dead, such as Robert Baratheon, Renly Baratheon, maester Aemon, Lysa Tully, Catelyn Tully (who is still present in the books, but only as a zombie Lady Stoneheart <- she wasn't in my list).

Possibly, Shella Whent is dead. Though, it is equally possible that she is still alive, and is in hiding. She's not as old as Walder Frey, or Old Nan, or the Ghost of High Heart, thus, if she didn't got killed, then it's more than likely that she still lives.

Shiera Seastar is alive, she is Quaithe. Rhaego is alive, he was kidnapped by Khal Pono. Quentyn and Oberyn Martell died, but there are other Martells who are still alive, and they are dragonseeds, because their ancestors were Drazenko Rogare (Valyrian husband of Aliandra Martell) and Princess Daenerys Targaryen (wife of Maron Martell). All Sand Snakes are also dragonseeds.

This is the complete list (all of them are alive, except the Mountain):

1. Dany,
2. Jon (even if he is dead, it's only temporarely),
3. Rhaego (with Khal Pono, either with his Khalasar or at Vaes Dothrak),
4. fAegon,
5. Varys,
6. Barristan Selmy,
7. Brienne,
8. Hodor,
9. Clegane Bros (the Mountain became Robert Strong, not sure whether he is somehow alive, or whether he is a zombie like Lady Stoneheart; but the Hound is alive),
10. Meris/Wenda,
11. Brown Ben Plumm,
12. Petyr Baelysh,
13. Arya (Braavos),
14. Sansa (The Vale),
15. Bran (at the cave of the Children of the Forest, with Bloodraven),
16. Rickon (Skagos),
17. Robert Arryn (The Vale, still alive for now),
18. Edmure Tully (imprisoned by Freys), and his wife is pregnant, so there's going to be one more,
19. Shella Whent (could be alive, there's no reason for her to be dead; if she was seized or killed by Tywin's people, it would have been reported to KL or Harrenhal, thus, most likely, she is still alive, and successfully avoided being captured),
20. Wynafrei Whent (married with a Frey);
21. Bloodraven (with Bran, still alive for now),
22. Shiera Seastar (either she's still in Essos, or could be that she already went to Westeros, on the same ship as Sam and maester Aemon),
23. Doran Martell,
24. Arianne Martell,
25. Trystane Martell,
26. Obara Sand,
27. Nymeria Sand,
28. Tyene Sand (she is blond, same as Elia's Aegon, because Oberyn and Elia were carriers of Targaryen dragonseed blond-genes (inherited from Drazenko Rogare and Daenerys Targaryen); they themselves were dark-haired, but they were carriers of dominant dark-hair alleles and recessive blond-hair alleles, as result of that they had dark hair, but some of their children from combination of their parent blond-gene and additional blond-gene from their second parent (who also was a carrier of blond-gene, like Rhaegar) are blond-haired (like Tyene, and Elia's Aegon (who is dead)), and some children are dark-haired, like Rhaegar's Rhaenys (dead) and majority of Oberyn's children),
29. Sarella Sand (posing as Alleras at the Citadel),
30. Elia Sand,
31. Obella Sand,
32. Dorea Sand,
33. Loreza Sand,
34. Stannis,
35. Shireen,
36. Gendry,
37. Mya Stone,
38. Edric Storm,
39. Bella (one of Robert's bastards, she's at Stoney Sept, alive); there were 11 more of Robert's bastards (not including little Barra, that was killed on Cersei's order), it's likely that not all of them were in King's Landing, so Cersei didn't got all of them;
40. the Black Pearl of Braavos (and her siblings and parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents and multiple cousins (descendants of Aegon IV));
41. and other people who are descended from Aegon IV's multiple bastards (Ambrose Butterwell married with a Frey-girl, he wasn't too old to have children; then there's also Mya and Gwenys Rivers, Bloodraven's sisters; Mya, most likely, married back into Blackwood family, and Melantha Blackwood (wife of Stark) and Betha Blackwood (wife of Aegon V) were possibly her daughters, thus all current Starks are her descenandants; same as current Blackwoods), House Blackwood - Lord Tytos Blackwood,
42. Brynden Blackwood,
43. Hoster Blackwood,
44. Edmund Blackwood,
45. Alys Blackwood,
46. Bethany Blackwood,
47. and Tytos has two more brothers and a sister, brother 1,
48. brother 2
49. sister,
50. and one of Blackwoods married with Walder Frey (his fourth wife, she was born already after Mya and Gwenys' generation, so if my theory is correct, that Mya, who was Aegon IV's bastard-daughter, married back into Blackwood family, and brought there her dragonseed-genes, then all Blackwoods that descended from her, are also dragonseeds), and she gave birth to five of Walder's children, all five are still alive - Lothar Frey (he's alive and married and has four children -
51. Tysane,
52. Walda,
53. Emberlei,
54. Leana),
55. Jammos Frey (he's married and has three children -
56. Big Walder,
57. Dickon,
58. Mathis),
59. Whalen Frey (he's married and has two children -
60. Hoster,
61. Merianne),
62. Morya Frey (she's married and has three children -
63. Robert,
64. Walder
65. and Jon),
66. Tyta Frey,
67. [House Plumm] Lord Philip Plumm, and his three sons -
68. Dennis,
69. Peter,
70. Harwyn <- they are descendants of Viserys Plumm, who was actually Aegon IV's bastard,
71. [House Hightower], princess Rhaena Targaryen married with Garmund Hightower, who was Lord Hightower's third son. She had with him six daughters. Based on what modern day Hightowers look like, it seems likely, that at least one of those six girls married into House Hightower, with her first cousin, son of Garmund's older brother. There are 11 Hightowers, alive. Alerie Hightower is silver-haired, Lynesse Hightower is golden-haired. So it's likely that Hightowers did inherited some of dragonseed genes from princess Rhaena. One Hightower - old Lord Leyton.
72. Two Hightower - Baelor Hightower.
73. Malora Hightower.
74. Garth Hightower.
75. Alerie Hightower (married with Mace Tyrell, and they have 4 children -
76. Willas Tyrell,
77. Garlan Tyrell
78. Loras Tyrell,
79. Margaery Tyrell),
80. Leyla Hightower.
81. Denyse Hightower (married and has a son -
82. Denys Redwyne).
83. Alysanne Hightower (married and has a son -
84. Alys Ambrose).
85. Gunthor Hightower.
86. Humfrey Hightower.
87. Lynesse Hightower (eleven Hightowers in total, and their children).
88. House Penrose, Lord Ronnel Penrose married with princess Elaena Targaryen, and they had four children, two sons and two daughters. Current Lord Penrose is still alive. His son was castellan at Storm's End, that guy who was killed by one of Melisandre's shadows.
89. [House Longwaters] <- descended from bastard-child of Elaena Targaryen and Alyn Velaryon. Rennifer Longwaters, chief undergaoler of the Red Keep. Alive.
90. House Velaryon, Monterys Velaryon and his bastard-uncle -
91. Aurane Waters,
92. House Celtigar (descendants of Valyrians, same as Targaryens and Velaryons), Adrian Celtigar, current Lord of Claw Isle, still alive.

Ninety two carriers of Targaryen genes + how many survived out of Robert's eleven unnamed bastards. Out of those 92, 29 are confirmed dragonseeds, known descendants of Targaryens, and the other 63, such as members of House Hightower, Blackwood, Plumm, Frey (thru marriage with a Blackwood), and Duncan the Tall's possible descendants, are potentially carriers of dragonseed-genes (that's if Mya Rivers married back into Blackwood family; and if one of six half-Targaryen/half-Hightower girls also married back into Hightower family; and if I'm right with that theory about identity of Duncan's descendants). 

Brown Ben Plumm is Aegon IV's 3-times or 4-times great grandson. And even though since then into his family's gene-pool were added other non-dragonseed genes, whatever amount of Targaryen blood he still has, that amount is still enough for Dany's dragons to recognize Ben as their kin. Princess Elaena Targaryen (who is an ancestor of House Longwaters and House Penrose), and Princess Rhaena's six half-Hightower daughters, were Aegon IV's first cousins. They were from the same generation as Aegon, so their current descendants, all those Hightowers (11 of them, and their 6 children) have approximately same amount of Targaryen blood as Brown Ben Plumm. Same thing with members of House Blackwood, and children and grandchildren of Walder Frey and his Blackwood wife (if current Blackwoods are descendants of Mya Rivers, Aegon's daughter).

Those 63, for now not yet confirmed dragonseeds, potentially have the same (or in some cases even higher) amount of dragon-DNA, as Brown Ben Plumm.

The complete list - 103 dragonseeds in total (with inclusion of Robert's bastards, those that were not confirmed as dead).

[Ser Leftwich]

    Pate (novice)
    Pate (orphan)
    Pate (ranger)
    Pate (Standfast)
    Pate (whipping boy)
    Pate the Plowman
    Pate the Woodcock
    Pate of the Blue Fork
    Pate of Fairmarket
    Pate of Lancewood
    Pate of Longleaf
    Pate of Mory
    Pate of Shermer's Grove
    Old Pate
    Pinchbottom Pate
    Spotted Pate of Maidenpool
    Steely Pate
    High Septon (stonemason)

 

All Pates are Targs. It is known. (More sane than "I haven't read all the books, but the is what will happen.")

[Loose Bolt]

8 hours ago, Widowmaker 811 said:

There are a lot of people who carry the Targaryen DNA around.  I doubt if they can be called Targaryen.  Proof is important.  Everybody will require proof.  And these people with Targaryen blood may not even know.  

Most of them are descendants of Aegon IV.

[Rondo]

Targaryens or just Valyrians?  Lys has people with Valyrian blood.  Being Targaryen is more specific.  A bastard here or there in the past passed the blood downwards through the generations.  It's so diluted by this time.  I don't think it matters.  

[Shierak Qiya]

Gerold Dayne

[Lord Varys]

What we can expect is that some of the people from the family tree were married and had children unknown to us. For instance, we do know that Egg's sister Daella and Rhae married and had children, yet the family tree doesn't give their husbands nor their children away. My favorite theory is that Dunk and Daella are going to marry to produce a daughter who ends up marrying into House Tarth and becomes the mother of Lord Selwyn Tarth and thus Brienne's grandmother. For the husband of Rhae there are no good hints so far, but people have been speculating that she may have married into House Dayne. It also stands to reason that Duncan and Jenny had offspring considering they loved each other very much and they were married for decades (could also turn out that this was a childless marriage, but I'd not bet on that).

There is also a small chance that Aerion's son Maegor and Vaella the Simple had children, and there is a chance that Princess Daenora remarried after the death of Aerion Brightflame (if she outlived her husband).

Chances are also pretty good that the successor of Lord Lucas Lothston as Lord of Harrenhal is a clandestine Targaryen considering the fact that Aegon IV apparently continued his affair with Lucas' wife Falena Stokeworth even after the woman was married to Lucas and sent to Harrenhal. If that is the case and the main line of House Lothston is descended from Lucas' eldest son (which seems to have been Manfryd) then all the Lothston rulers of Harrenhal (although not all the Lothstons around) could have been 'secret Targaryens'. This is especially interesting in relation to Lady Danelle Lothston whose madness could then also be a variation of Targaryen madness.

Whoever those Lothstons intermarried with - Tullys, say - could then also have drops of secret dragon blood.

Aside from them we do have the Plumms all of which we know so far as direct descendants of Lord Viserys Plumm - who is the son of Princess Elaena, most likely fathered by Aegon IV. Elaena also produced four Penrose children - Robin, Laena, Joecelyn, and Joy Penrose (although the name Joy might indicate that her true father was Elaena's true love, Ser Michael Manwoody). It stands to reason that some of the girls lived to have children of their own, but we have no clue who they would have married. Whether Robin Penrose continued the main line of House Penrose is unclear, as is whether Ser Cortnay Penrose is a descendant of Elaena and Robin and thus a Targaryen descendant himself.

That the Penroses as such did have Targaryen blood even before Elaena married Ronnel Penrose is also confirmed since the queen of Aerys I, Aelinor Penrose, was the king's cousin on the Targaryen side of the family, indicating the Penroses are either descended from the daughters of Rhaena and Garmund, or a daughter of Baela and Alyn.

Which leads us to the Velaryon descendants of Alyn and Baela - they are Targaryen descendants, too, and any female descendants of theirs, starting with their daughter Laena, would spread the blood of the dragon further. Considering Elaena and Ronnel Penrose named their eldest daughter Laena chances are not that bad that Ronnel Penrose's mother might be Alyn and Baela's firstborn child, the second Laena Velaryon. And Aelinor Penrose would then be Ronnel's daughter by his unknown first wife.

Who the hell the six daughters of Garmund and Rhaena ended up with we have no clue so far. Some could be mothers to the other brides of the sons of Daeron II, i.e. marrying into Houses Dondarrion, Arryn, and Dayne, others might end up with completely unknown houses.

Personally, I expect one of those Targaryen-Hightower girls to be reabsorbed back into the main line of House Hightower, meaning Lord Lyonel's eldest son or grandson ending up with one of Garmund's girls.

As for earlier Targaryens: Princess Saera had at least three sons, possibly more. No idea if we ever learn anything about them, though.

I do hope we learn what happened to Sara Snow and whether she ever had a child which could have been fathered by Jace. However, if such a child shows up, then it would also mean they were never married or that the marriage was completely ignored since such a child could actually have had a stronger claim to the Iron Throne than Aegon III.

[The Commentator]

On 10/3/2020 at 8:39 AM, Loose Bolt said:

Most of them are descendants of Aegon IV.

Yes and other wild males in the family.  Daemon must have a few.  

[Lord Lannister]

There's a lot of circumstantial evidence that Tyrion could be the bastard son of the Mad King. 

[The Wondering Wolf]

21 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

For the husband of Rhae there are no good hints so far, but people have been speculating that she may have married into House Dayne. It also stands to reason that Duncan and Jenny had offspring considering they loved each other very much and they were married for decades (could also turn out that this was a childless marriage, but I'd not bet on that).

Summerhall could be George's 'solution' for all of them. 

21 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

That the Penroses as such did have Targaryen blood even before Elaena married Ronnel Penrose is also confirmed since the queen of Aerys I, Aelinor Penrose, was the king's cousin on the Targaryen side of the family, indicating the Penroses are either descended from the daughters of Rhaena and Garmund, or a daughter of Baela and Alyn.

As you say, the second Laena Velaryon seems like a good guess for Ronnel's mother, Laena Penrose would have been named after her.

21 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

Whether Robin Penrose continued the main line of House Penrose is unclear

I guess Aelinor was Ronnel's daughter from another wife, so it depends if Ronnel had more sons.

21 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

Who the hell the six daughters of Garmund and Rhaena ended up with we have no clue so far. Some could be mothers to the other brides of the sons of Daeron II, i.e. marrying into Houses Dondarrion, Arryn, and Dayne, others might end up with completely unknown houses.

After reading F&B and learning how GRRM cut all these lose ends, I guess two were given to the faith, one died young, one died in childbed, one married a minor household knight and the youngest one might have married Lord Lyonel's grandson Jon.

21 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

I do hope we learn what happened to Sara Snow and whether she ever had a child which could have been fathered by Jace. However, if such a child shows up, then it would also mean they were never married or that the marriage was completely ignored since such a child could actually have had a stronger claim to the Iron Throne than Aegon III.

The only one who ever mentions Sara is Mushroom, the other sources do not mention her or even state she might not have existed at all. Since Mushroom is no longer a source after the end of the regency, I do not think she will ever come up again. If there was some proof of her mere existence, we should know about that.

[Lord Varys]

52 minutes ago, The Wondering Wolf said:

Summerhall could be George's 'solution' for all of them. 

Sure, but the thing with Duncan/Jenny's speculative children is that they would no longer be proper Targaryens. Their father gave up his claim to the throne because of his morganatic marriage. People have suggested they may not even have taken the royal family name. This would provide the author with a unique opportunity to have them still around but being dynastically completely irrelevant. In any other scenario we should know by now of that cadet branch, but not necessarily in this case.

I do expect there to be some further Targaryen casualties at Summerhall to be sure, depending who is there. But since Steffon didn't die there and the Targaryen-Tarths also survived this, it seems (it would make little sense to mention the Targaryen-Tarth ties in TWoIaF if they no longer exist at the time Yandel is writing), I'm not holding my breath for Summerhall killing nearly all of them.

52 minutes ago, The Wondering Wolf said:

As you say, the second Laena Velaryon seems like a good guess for Ronnel's mother, Laena Penrose would have been named after her.

I guess Aelinor was Ronnel's daughter from another wife, so it depends if Ronnel had more sons.

There is that weird mentioning of that Lady Penrose losing a lot of sons during the First Blackfyre Rebellion, indicating that Aelinor may have had a full brother who succeeded Ronnel as Lord of Parchments, meaning Ronnel was already dead and Elaena married to Ser Michael in 196 AC. Of course, that entails that said Lady Penrose was the Lady Penrose. But if this was the case then chances are pretty good that Robin Penrose never became the Lord of Parchments and then chances are good, that Ser Cortnay isn't descended from him.

52 minutes ago, The Wondering Wolf said:

After reading F&B and learning how GRRM cut all these lose ends, I guess two were given to the faith, one died young, one died in childbed, one married a minor household knight and the youngest one might have married Lord Lyonel's grandson Jon.

Sure, that might be possible. And to be sure, Jena Dondarrion could also be a descendant of the second Laena, by means of sister of Ronnel Penrose who married into House Dondarrion and became the mother of Jena. The second Laena is born much earlier than Rhaena's daughters - especially the younger - meaning while Rhaena's daughters might be the mothers of some of the brides of Daeron II's sons, Laena could easily be the grandmother of such women.

However, in general I'm not sure George created those six daughters just to turn them all into loose ends which lead nowhere. I don't expect all of them to have descendants, of course, but chances are that some did.

Depending how long Garmund lives and what he does it stands to reason that his marriage to a half-sister/aunt of the kings he would have high office/influence at court as an adult and that, in turn, could mean he plays a considerable role during Daeron's Conquest, say. That could lead to one of his daughters ending up with a Dayne. Another could marry into House Baratheon to strengthen those blood ties there, and it wouldn't be surprising if another hooked up with an Arryn. The Hightowers are highborn in their own right, but Hightower brides with royal blood should have been very prestigious matches.

52 minutes ago, The Wondering Wolf said:

The only one who ever mentions Sara is Mushroom, the other sources do not mention her or even state she might not have existed at all. Since Mushroom is no longer a source after the end of the regency, I do not think she will ever come up again. If there was some proof of her mere existence, we should know about that.

Oh, yes, sure, but remember the version of the story of Ser Maladon Moore and the end of Ceryse Hightower in the original version of TSotD and what George expanded on that story in the Jaehaerys material of FaB. It turned out things were not as obscure as they were portrayed in the first version.

If FaB II continues to depict the reign of Aegon III in great detail and we are going to visit Cregan Stark at Winterfell in the late 130s or 140s then it should be rather difficult to not revisit the question whether Lord Cregan had a bastard half-sister or not. I'd be surprised if George completely dropped her in such a scenario. If she shows up again she could be childless, of course, but it wouldn't surprise me if she had a daughter or even a son and everybody just ignored who the father of the child was. Sort of like things stood with Jon Snow.

[The Wondering Wolf]

1 hour ago, Lord Varys said:

Sure, but the thing with Duncan/Jenny's speculative children is that they would no longer be proper Targaryens. Their father gave up his claim to the throne because of his morganatic marriage. People have suggested they may not even have taken the royal family name.

Even if their children had not been royal, I guess they would have been around at court, so while it is possible they survived, I do not think so. What would they be good for?

1 hour ago, Lord Varys said:

There is that weird mentioning of that Lady Penrose losing a lot of sons during the First Blackfyre Rebellion, indicating that Aelinor may have had a full brother who succeeded Ronnel as Lord of Parchments, meaning Ronnel was already dead and Elaena married to Ser Michael in 196 AC. Of course, that entails that said Lady Penrose was the Lady Penrose. But if this was the case then chances are pretty good that Robin Penrose never became the Lord of Parchments and then chances are good, that Ser Cortnay isn't descended from him.

This Lady Penrose thing is really vexing. I assume Aelinor was of an age with Aerys, born around 170/175 AC. If Ronnel was her father, he might have been born around 150/155 AC (Laena Velaryon, born in 134 AC, as his mother would fit well then). A son of Ronnel could have been born around 167 AC. A son of that son around 183 AC. These sons Fireball slew what have been quite young then. Besides that, these calculations depend on the earliest option each time, so not sure it works.

Another possibility would be a younger brother of Ronnel who died before the rebellion and whose sons were killed by Fireball. Jon Penrose might have been the youngest son who was spared.

1 hour ago, Lord Varys said:

However, in general I'm not sure George created those six daughters just to turn them all into loose ends which lead nowhere. I don't expect all of them to have descendants, of course, but chances are that some did.

I admit I was a bit cynical there, but thirteen children and four living grandchildren for Jaehaerys and Alysanne was a bit of a disappointment.

1 hour ago, Lord Varys said:

Oh, yes, sure, but remember the version of the story of Ser Maladon Moore and the end of Ceryse Hightower in the original version of TSotD and what George expanded on that story in the Jaehaerys material of FaB. It turned out things were not as obscure as they were portrayed in the first version.

Sure, but in that case it was rather a manuscript version versus a finished edition. Now we have the finished version of a first volume where Gyldayn states "If indeed there ever lived a Sara Snow". It would be really weird if Gyldayn wrote about actual events including Sara in the second volume, when he was not sure about her existance in the first one. GRRM could do this indeed, but it would mean a retcon.

[Alyn Oakenfist]

Well, according to the fandom... every single person that draws breath, and even those who don't

[ShimShim]

Moon Boy is a secret Targ. He is just biding his time, pretending to be a fool.

[Endymion I Targaryen]

Considering Maegor, son of Aerion, I believe he was Kingsguard/Maester/dies childless at Summerhal.

Daella and Rhae marry a Tarth and a Dayne.

Duncan's children (if he had) died at Summerhal.

Vaella died childless.

Daenora never remarried or she died giving birth to Maegor or she remarried and died in childbirth along with her baby. 

Rhaena's daughter married back to Hightower line, while the others were Septas, silent sisters, barren, unmarried.

 

[Frey family reunion]

On 10/5/2020 at 7:04 AM, Lord Varys said:

I do hope we learn what happened to Sara Snow and whether she ever had a child which could have been fathered by Jace. However, if such a child shows up, then it would also mean they were never married or that the marriage was completely ignored since such a child could actually have had a stronger claim to the Iron Throne than Aegon III.

My complete grasping at straws theory is that this may be how GRRM gets a dragon rider ancestor for the Starks.

Cregan Stark’s first wife, and childhood companion was Arra Norrey who may have been fostered at Winterfell from the Mountain Clan.  If Sara Snow was pregnant with a Targaryen bastard, then it’s very possible that Cregan may have married her to one of his loyal bannermen.  And presumably Cregan may have had a very close relationship with House Norrey because of his first wife.  Thus Sara Snow gets married to a relation of Arra Norrey and we get the son or daughter of a dragon rider growing up amid the Mountain Clans.

If so, then Sara’s child may have then married into another Mountain clan perhaps making Sara the ancestor of Arya Flint. 

[Frey family reunion]

I don’t know if GRRM is teasing us with this imagery because they have Valyrian bloodlines but I did note this in regards to Val (Valyrian?) and the Tattered Prince:

Quote

The light of the half-moon turned Val’s honey-blond hair a pale silver and left her cheeks as white as snow.

Quote

The Tattered Prince himself was seated at the table, nursing a cup of wine. In the yellow candlelight his silver-grey hair seemed almost golden, though the pouches underneath his eyes were etched as large as saddlebags.

 

[Thandros]

Odds on a very high percentage of everyone in at least the south of Westeros can make some claim or another of Targaryen Ancestry.

Simple fact is four centuries of Targaryens marrying other houses, having bastards who then have descendants of their own and other acts would give a good chunk of westeros minor targaryen blood of no significance. 

20 generations or roughly 400 years is enough time for targaryen blood to spread through out the South. Without genetic testing we will never know who is related to who.