Do we know why Aegon the Conqueror decided to invade Westeros?

[LordBloodraven]

The title says it all. Why did Aegon conquer the 7 kingdoms with his sisters? IIRC, in ADWD it is stated that Volantis proposed to Aegon during his youth an alliance to rebuild the Old Valyrian empire, alliance he rejected. Later, he helped Tyrosh against Volantis, when Volantis invaded that Free City. It seems that he was set on conquering and unifying Westeros, despite no cultural affinity. Since the Targs were the last dragonriders of Valyria, it would have been expected that they would unify Essos instead of Westeros. Is it ever stated in the books why the Targs unified the 7 kingdoms? Daeron I too, seemed set on incorporating Dorne to his dominion. We know that Hugor Hill had a dream but did Aegon have one? What was so special in Westeros? Why was he so lenient with the original kingdoms (all the Houses that weren't wiped out during the fighting were confirmed in their positions, it seems to me).

[Howlin' Howland Reed]

tze had a nice speculative theory that maybe Aegon believed he was the PTWP and came because of that reason.

[mediocre cheese]

Because being king of westeros was better than being king of dragonstone. Or as Jorah says in the show because he could.

[salt]

He came to Westeros to find The Great Other, a being of unimaginable terror known in High Valyrian as "Ho'Dor, Eater of Worlds".

[LordBloodraven]

tze had a nice speculative theory that maybe Aegon believed he was the PTWP and came because of that reason.

Can you post a link, I'd like to read it.

Because being king of westeros was better than being king of dragonstone. Or as Jorah says in the show because he could.

Is king of Westeros better than Emperor of (New) Valyria? He could have turned on Essos but opted for Westeros...

[Verboten]

He looked at his 'wives', remembered playing pattycake with them and upon discovering that everyone on his island was either ugly or related to him, did declare his desire to get to Westeros and find a beauty to rival the sun. And lo, he did spread his seed across the Seven Kingdoms and much joy was shared in his innumerable unions.

[mediocre cheese]

Is king of Westeros better than Emperor of (New) Valyria? He could have turned on Essos but opted for Westeros...

Valyria had no historical emperor. And we have no idea how successful he'd have been, some of his opponents (being former subjects of valyria) would be much more knowledgeable about dragons and how to fight them.

Edit:

Why did Caesar conquer gaul and not illyrium? Why did Pizzaro conquer the incas? Because you take what you can get.

[Howlin' Howland Reed]

Can you post a link, I'd like to read it.

Here you go.

[KingsGoldenHand]

Well many lords of Essos tried to get him to invade according to his wiki, and he did help them out on one occasion. I'm guessing the lingering doom was the main thing that lead him west.

[Stannis the Great]

I'm guessing that it was harder to reforge the Valyrian Freehold than to simply conquer the Seven Kingdoms. Remember Westeros (after the Andals) had zero experience with dragons while the states in Essos had and may have had anti-dragon tactics. Westeros was ripe for the plucking and boy did he pluck.

[Chalais]

I think it had something to do with the currently unexplained Doom of Valyria which seems to have been an apocolyptic event that physically destroyed the Valyrian Empire and the bulk of its lands, there was mention of FOURTEEN active volcanoes in a big cluster and lots of mining in the region I have to assume that it played a role.

The event also has religious aspects in that Aegon I abandoned the worship of the Valyrian Gods after the events in favor of new ones, perhaps the survivors put the blame on their old gods perhaps...

Depending on the nature of the event, Aegon might have thought that Valyria was meant to stay dead or that a revival wouldn't be long lasting (in RL political terms every attempt at reiviving the Roman Empire either failed or became a parody of itself).

[Lord Varys]

Aegon fought against the Volantenes on dragonback when they tried to conquer the Free Cities and rebuild the Freehold of Valyria under their rule. There was once talk about the Volantenes trying to ally themselves with the Targaryens on Dragonstone to accomplish that goal. Apparently, Aegon refused that. Why we don't yet know.

That passage did not made it into ADwD though - I expected to read about it when Aegon recited the history of Volantis. On the other hand, I'm not sure if that tidbit was supposed to be in ADwD. It could have been something GRRM told somebody somewhere.

My guess would be that the Aegon's ancestors - or maybe only Aegon himself - were not that fond of the valyrian lifestyle anymore. The power of Valyria rooted in slavery as much as in magic and dragons, and maybe the Targaryens were banished/retreated to Dragonstone, the westernmost outpost - and apparently also the most insignificant - because they did no longer approve of this slavery stuff. The fact that the Targaryens never tried to force the valyrian lifestyle upon Westeros may indicate that. We don't know much about Aegon, but I imagine he might have been attracted to the Westerosi customs of knighthood, chivalry, and the like.

On the other hand, the Targaryen siblings might just have resented the idea to assist the Volantenes, to become only an important part in a larger empire, when they could conquer and rule an entire continent all by themselves.

[Sevumar]

Aegon fought against the Volantenes on dragonback when they tried to conquer the Free Cities and rebuild the Freehold of Valyria under their rule.... My guess would be that the Aegon's ancestors - or maybe only Aegon himself - were not that fond of the valyrian lifestyle anymore.

The Freehold had never been a monarchy and I could see Aegon deciding that the distance of time, the "mission" provided by the PWWP prophecy, and the necessity of sharing power in any rule over the Free Cities would be enough to refuse the deal. If he conquered the Seven Kingdoms, he could rule as a sole monarch without the cultural baggage of keeping old Valyrian traditions.

The power of Valyria rooted in slavery as much as in magic and dragons, and maybe the Targaryens were banished/retreated to Dragonstone, the westernmost outpost - and apparently also the most insignificant - because they did no longer approve of this slavery stuff.

It's strongly implied that the Targaryens departed Valyria because of visions that Aenar Targaryen's daughter had. We're not given any details about it, but it's not out of the realm of possibility that they had something to do with the Doom or the PWWP.

[mor2]

The title says it all. Why did Aegon conquer the 7 kingdoms with his sisters? IIRC, in ADWD it is stated that Volantis proposed to Aegon during his youth an alliance to rebuild the Old Valyrian empire, alliance he rejected. Later, he helped Tyrosh against Volantis, when Volantis invaded that Free City. It seems that he was set on conquering and unifying Westeros, despite no cultural affinity. Since the Targs were the last dragonriders of Valyria, it would have been expected that they would unify Essos instead of Westeros. Is it ever stated in the books why the Targs unified the 7 kingdoms? Daeron I too, seemed set on incorporating Dorne to his dominion. We know that Hugor Hill had a dream but did Aegon have one? What was so special in Westeros? Why was he so lenient with the original kingdoms (all the Houses that weren't wiped out during the fighting were confirmed in their positions, it seems to me).

maybe it was too painful for him to rebuild what was lost and he wanted to start over and the less developed westeros was ripe for the taking. Maybe after the doom he wanted to do things his way, after all Valyrian Freehold never had a one ruler. Maybe he knew something about the situation in Essos we didnt. Maybe he initially planned to go back or maybe he just wanted to expand from the tiny dragonstone to the undisputed crowlands and one thing led to another ...

[Lord Varys]

As of yet, there is no hint anywhere that the Aegon and his siblings had either knowledge, or interest in fulfilling a certain prophecy involving a savior guy, a promised prince, or some weird ice demons beyond a Wall of Ice. And their actions speak against that as well. Neither Aegon nor his immediate successors seemed to care all that much about the Night's Watch. Jaehaerys I only assisted them because Alysanne took a liking to and explored the Wall.

As to Aenar Targaryen and his maiden daughter's vision: We have no idea who he was, what his daughter saw, or when they lived. He could have been Aegon's great-grandfather or great-great-grandfather, the Targaryen who retreated to Dragonstone, but it's just as likely that he and his daughter lived a thousand years before the Doom and nothing to do with any of this. They might not even be ancestors of Aegon - they could be of a lesser branch of the family tree. We simply don't know.

What we do know, however, is that King Aerys I Targaryen apparently discovered (or rediscovered) an ancient prophecy about eventual return of the (Targaryen family) dragons. Egg states as much in TMK. That might have caused all subsequent attempts of House Targaryen to hatch their dragon eggs. Baelor prayed over the eggs, and Aegon the Unworthy had wooden dragons built, but this seemed to have been half-sincere attempts, perhaps caused by memory (Baelor and Aegon were likely born before the last dragon died) and the usual Targaryen dragon dreams. But the Targaryens after Aerys I might have tried as hard to get their dragons back because they started to believe that they needed them to fulfill some prophecy, to save the realm, the world, and themselves.

Alester Florent mentioned some other Targaryen follies beside Aegon's and Baelor's and Summerhall. So I'm starting to guess that Aerys I might have been the first Targaryen king to die while trying to hatch dragon eggs. And Bloodraven would have assisted him, no doubt. That would make Bloodraven the one being alive actually privy to that stupid prophecy we still have no yet read for ourselves. And Maekar would have blamed him for Aerys's death, of course. He later died in the field, and Egg caused Summerhall.

And it's not impossible that this is also the prophecy about the promised prince Rhaegar believed in (and spoke about with Maester Aemon), but even that is of yet not confirmed. Bloodraven could do that, I expect.

[Sevumar]

As of yet, there is no hint anywhere that the Aegon and his siblings had either knowledge, or interest in fulfilling a certain prophecy involving a savior guy, a promised prince, or some weird ice demons beyond a Wall of Ice. And their actions speak against that as well. Neither Aegon nor his immediate successors seemed to care all that much about the Night's Watch. Jaehaerys I only assisted them because Alysanne took a liking to and explored the Wall.

I never said with certainty that either the PWWP prophecy or a vision of the Doom fueled Aegon's conquest. We simply don't have enough evidence to make a call on his motives. We have several disparate pieces of information that people have tried to fit into the story based on what we know so far.

We know that Martin doesn't insert details like Aenar Targaryen's daughter's book of prophecy (Signs and Portents) into the story if they have no ties to current events or no significance. The Doom of Valyria is one of the Big Mysteries™ of the broader ASOIAF story, and the Targaryens are the only dragonlords to have survived it. It makes sense that it would play a central role in what the family has done since then.

As to Aenar Targaryen and his maiden daughter's vision: We have no idea who he was, what his daughter saw, or when they lived. He could have been Aegon's great-grandfather or great-great-grandfather, the Targaryen who retreated to Dragonstone, but it's just as likely that he and his daughter lived a thousand years before the Doom and nothing to do with any of this.

We have good reason to believe that whoever he and his daughter were, whenever they lived, this information illuminates something in the story, otherwise it would not be there. As I said above, Martin doesn't really trade in throwaway details. If a family has a tradition of dragon dreams and evidence of a prophetic gift, it's fairly reasonable to assume that members would heed it, even if it came from a lesser member of the clan.

What we do know, however, is that King Aerys I Targaryen apparently discovered (or rediscovered) an ancient prophecy about eventual return of the (Targaryen family) dragons. Egg states as much in TMK. That might have caused all subsequent attempts of House Targaryen to hatch their dragon eggs.

I find it a bit unlikely that the Targaryens, in possession of dragons, would conquer a kingdom in order to foster the return of dragons, which were obviously not extinct at the time. There's little evidence that the Seven Kingdoms get them anything with which to fuel the return of dragons. Weren't the most powerful of the Targaryen dragons hatched on Dragonstone? They only started to weaken after the main dragon-rearing and training facilities were moved to King's Landing.

[Son of Jon Snarkgaryen]

Here's a question, a bit of topic, but also a bit on topic, that's alwyays had me curious. I've never been able to find an answer anywhere, in the books, on the forums, or in interviews with GRRM, so maybe one of you can answer it for me. How did Dragonstone come to be the Targaryen House's ancient seat after the Doom struck Valyria? It's so close to Westeros, and so far from Valyria and Essos, but they didn't bother to venture out to Westeros to conquer it for another 100 years? And there's evidence to indicate that the ancestors of Aegon I had full-sized dragons, just as he did. So, were they just not interested? From the way the Yunkai describe to Dany, and the Braavosi describe to Arya, the Valyrians of ancient times, they were dragon tamers, conquerers, and slavers. So, were they just mellow peaceful people for the hundred years between the Doom (100 years before Aegon's Landing) and the time Aegon chose to Conquer Westeros with his sisters? And did the Lords and Great Houses of Westeros not know that there were Valyrians (whose empire was world famous), with dragons, right in their backyard? Am i the only one who thinks this is odd? Like, really, really odd?

[Dragonfish]

Here's a question, a bit of topic, but also a bit on topic, that's alwyays had me curious. I've never been able to find an answer anywhere, in the books, on the forums, or in interviews with GRRM, so maybe one of you can answer it for me. How did Dragonstone come to be the Targaryen House's ancient seat after the Doom struck Valyria? It's so close to Westeros, and so far from Valyria and Essos, but they didn't bother to venture out to Westeros to conquer it for another 100 years? And there's evidence to indicate that the ancestors of Aegon I had full-sized dragons, just as he did. So, were they just not interested? From the way the Yunkai describe to Dany, and the Braavosi describe to Arya, the Valyrians of ancient times, they were dragon tamers, conquerers, and slavers. So, were they just mellow peaceful people for the hundred years between the Doom (100 years before Aegon's Landing) and the time Aegon chose to Conquer Westeros with his sisters? And did the Lords and Great Houses of Westeros not know that there were Valyrians (whose empire was world famous), with dragons, right in their backyard? Am i the only one who thinks this is odd? Like, really, really odd?

Part of your question is answered in this SSM:

"I asked why the Targaryens waited so long after the Doom to invade?

GRRM said they were mostly just content on Dragonstone for awhile. Aegon's grandfather and father stayed there. Aegon was the one that chose to invade and conquer Westeros."

[Sevumar]

How did Dragonstone come to be the Targaryen House's ancient seat after the Doom struck Valyria? It's so close to Westeros, and so far from Valyria and Essos, but they didn't bother to venture out to Westeros to conquer it for another 100 years?

It could've been their only holding outside of Valyria. We know next to nothing about how the Targaryens came to be there. There's some evidence that they've always has designs on Westeros in the giant map table inside the keep. They also build idols to the Seven from the masts of the original ships that they took to reach Dragonstone, though there's little indication that they followed the religion at the time.

ADWD spoilers:

Tyrion wonders about this same thing, and concludes that if they came for gold, they stopped too far east. He finds it unbelievable that they wouldn't have known where the wealth was.

[Dragonfish]

There's some evidence that they've always has designs on Westeros in the giant map table inside the keep.

I believe it was Aegon who commanded that that table be made.

How did Dragonstone come to be the Targaryen House's ancient seat after the Doom struck Valyria?

Actually, the Targaryens came to Dragonstone centuries before the Doom, as it was Valyria's westernmost outpost. We don't really know why they ended up there. Some argue that they heeded the words of Aenar Targaryen's daughter and left Valyria in order to avoid the Doom. Others argue that they were banished there (in AFFC we are told of a history book who's title mentions some sort of "banishment" that House Targaryen experienced). But all of this is just speculation, nothing concrete.