Best Blood Claim to The Iron Throne: Daenerys, Stannis or (f)Aegon

[Julian Rayne]

Stannis, as Robert's heir.

To quote myself, literally two posts ago:

Read the disclaimer. This thread is to discuss blood right, not anything to do with right of conquest.

Targaryen blood claims are based on right of conquest. You cannot separate the two. Without right of conquest we're back to seven kingdoms and no Iron Throne at all.

[lightdrinker]

If the succesion laws are completely agnatic french-style then frist come all the legimate direct male descendants from Aegon the conqueror, then the legitimate direct male descendants from Orys Baratheon (only if he has the same father than Aegon I) and Dany has no claim whatsoever (Rhaego neither) besides right of conquest.

[mcb]

Targaryen blood claims are based on right of conquest. You cannot separate the two. Without right of conquest we're back to seven kingdoms and no Iron Throne at all.

Without conquest, there would be no seven kingdoms in the first place (there would, mayhaps, be a thousand principalities), but surely we can discuss hereditary claims without pointing it out every time?

[Morienthar]

Tommen he is the heir of the previous King,Hence he has the Best Claim.

[Nictarion]

Tommen he is the heir of the previous King,Hence he has the Best Claim.

Poor little Tommen won't be alive much longer though.

[therealbando]

Poor little Tommen won't be alive much longer though.

Tommen is the most well-protected man in Westeros, until he has Lord Commander of his King`s Guard, Ser Pounce around. Together they shall rule the 7 Kingdoms and enforce the beet-ban

[PickledPigeon]

Since the iron throne runs Agnatic-Cognatic Primogeniture succession (Agnatic-Cognatic meaning that women can inherit but only if there are no eligible males and Primogeniture meaning the eldest child inherets all titles) Daenarys has the strongest claim because she is the daughter of the previous targaryen king. should Aerys have died before Rhaegar, Aegon would be the rightful king because Rhaegar whould have been king followed by his son. But because he died before Aerys, the Claim passed to Viserys then Daenarys. The best claim is followed by Aegon being one of the last Targaryens and since his Grandfather was king. Followed by Stannis whose Grandmother was a Targaryen. In Laymans Terms Daenarys>Aegon>Stannis

[Tywin Manderly]

No the Targaryens had no problem of males descended from the female line inheriting. They did not practice Salic Law.

The Targaryens practiced agnatic primogeniture. And the only instance where a male child of a female Targaryen who not married to a Targaryen male ascended the Iron Throne was because that female was in the male line.

Daenerys. Her parentage can't be questioned (Aegon, Jon) and she is a direct descendant of the last legitimate king (Robert was a usurper), not a cousin from a completely different house (Stannis).

Exactly.

[Lord Ravenstark]

Blood claim? Leaf or an unnamed CotF, I guess.

They are the original inhabitants of an united Westeros, everyone after them were usurpers...

[SJC]

As I see it, the OP is asking who has the best claim to a Targaryen throne, as a Targaryen claimant. It is, therefore, purely an academic question because the Targaryens have been deposed, and the Baratheons are the current ruling house. Assuming the full knowledge of an outside observer (in other words, since the question is academic and would certainly never be put to a Westorosi vote, there is no relevant reason to worry about what anyone in Westeros knows or does not know---or could prove---about fAegon's or Jon's parentage):

1) Jon has the superior claim as Rhaegar's eldest legimitate son (if you want to fight about whether Jon is legitimate or not, go to the R+L=J thread and do your best to take on Ygrain, but I am taking this as given for the purposes of this exercise);

2) fAegon, who the OP defines as a claimant via the Blackfyre line (a more than resonable assumption in my view) has the worst claim because he comes from a disinherited and attainted house; and

3) The real controversy---which has already played out in dozens of threads before this---is for second between Dany and Stannis. To be perfectly frank, the answer is that we do not know how the Targaryens would resolve this claim. We can toss around salic law, agnatic primogeniture, etc. all we want, but that falls well short of answering GRRM's view on Targaryen succession, and seeks to impose a set rule of law onto a system that was not ruled by law, but rather is fairly malleable (and could be quite malleable even in our Middle Ages; indeed, the Great Northern Conspiracy thread has a good quote from GRRM on the matter, to the effect that he took from his review of medieval experience the general malleability of succession laws). The Targaryens ruled Westeros for less than 300 years, which is not long enough to truly set the precedents necessary to resolve a question like Dany vs. Stannis. On the one hand, no Targaryen female ever inherited the throne (and, in fact, one war was fought to prevent and may many later women were passed over). On the other hand, no male ever inherited the throne from as far from the main Targaryen line as Stannis, let alone through a female line. Really, because the precedent is not there---and who really knows if they would follow precedent anyway---both can make a reasonable claim. Indeed, if the question arose organically while the Targaryens still ruled, it may well have come to a civil war (or, if Westeros was lucky, another Great Council or negotiated solution).

[C0bR]

As I see it, the OP is asking who has the best claim to a Targaryen throne, as a Targaryen claimant. It is, therefore, purely an academic question because the Targaryens have been deposed, and the Baratheons are the current ruling house. Assuming the full knowledge of an outside observer (in other words, since the question is academic and would certainly never be put to a Westorosi vote, there is no relevant reason to worry about what anyone in Westeros knows or does not know---or could prove---about fAegon's or Jon's parentage):

1) Jon has the superior claim as Rhaegar's eldest legimitate son (if you want to fight about whether Jon is legitimate or not, go to the R+L=J thread and do your best to take on Ygrain, but I am taking this as given for the purposes of this exercise);

2) fAegon, who the OP defines as a claimant via the Blackfyre line (a more than resonable assumption in my view) has the worst claim because he comes from a disinherited and attainted house; and

3) The real controversy---which has already played out in dozens of threads before this---is for second between Dany and Stannis. To be perfectly frank, the answer is that we do not know how the Targaryens would resolve this claim. We can toss around salic law, agnatic primogeniture, etc. all we want, but that falls well short of answering GRRM's view on Targaryen succession, and seeks to impose a set rule of law onto a system that was not ruled by law, but rather is fairly malleable (and could be quite malleable even in our Middle Ages; indeed, the Great Northern Conspiracy thread has a good quote from GRRM on the matter, to the effect that he took from his review of medieval experience the general malleability of succession laws). The Targaryens ruled Westeros for less than 300 years, which is not long enough to truly set the precedents necessary to resolve a question like Dany vs. Stannis. On the one hand, no Targaryen female ever inherited the throne (and, in fact, one war was fought to prevent and may many later women were passed over). On the other hand, no male ever inherited the throne from as far from the main Targaryen line as Stannis, let alone through a female line. Really, because the precedent is not there---and who really knows if they would follow precedent anyway---both can make a reasonable claim. Indeed, if the question arose organically while the Targaryens still ruled, it may well have come to a civil war (or, if Westeros was lucky, another Great Council or negotiated solution).

Jon is younger than Aegon.

As for the OP:

1) Aegon - even if he is false, I don't see anybody who can prove it

2) Stannis

3) Daenerys

[TheMysteriousOne]

Women are able to inherit the Iron Throne. Just after the men.

[profilebegone]

Since the iron throne runs Agnatic-Cognatic Primogeniture succession (Agnatic-Cognatic meaning that women can inherit but only if there are no eligible males and Primogeniture meaning the eldest child inherets all titles) Daenarys has the strongest claim because she is the daughter of the previous targaryen king. should Aerys have died before Rhaegar, Aegon would be the rightful king because Rhaegar whould have been king followed by his son. But because he died before Aerys, the Claim passed to Viserys then Daenarys. The best claim is followed by Aegon being one of the last Targaryens and since his Grandfather was king. Followed by Stannis whose Grandmother was a Targaryen. In Laymans Terms Daenarys>Aegon>Stannis

Not really into debating this, but I should point out that this isn't quite correct. Aegon would still inherit even if Rhaegar died before Aerys.

[profilebegone]

The logic and rules of the system would say that Aegon (if he's really Aegon), then Dany, then Stannis would be the "true" heirs to the throne

I'm actually going to call myself out here in spite of myself and say it goes Aegon, Stannis, Dany. But, again, what I said above is what really matters.

[Thor Odinson]

Based purely on bloodline, it's Aegon > Stannis > Daenerys. But since Aegon = (f)Aegon, it's actually Stannis > Daenerys.

[WhiteWalder]

Based purely on bloodline, it's Aegon > Stannis > Daenerys. But since Aegon = (f)Aegon, it's actually Stannis > Daenerys.

Baratheon claimed the throne by right of conquest. Targs don't really have a claim anymore, but there are people who still view Baratheons as usurpers. Stannis has the claim. The Targs would only have claim to the throne now through being distant cousins with Baratheon.

[Thor Odinson]

Baratheon claimed the throne by right of conquest. Targs don't really have a claim anymore, but there are people who still view Baratheons as usurpers. Stannis has the claim. The Targs would only have claim to the throne now through being distant cousins with Baratheon.

Well, I'm going by the OP and what he's asking. If you were to ask straight up how it is then it's Stannis > Shireen, and that's it. The Targaryens were deposed and the whole family lost their claim to the Iron Throne as a result of Robert's Rebellion. The above answer is to the specific scenario which the OP is asking about.

[The Prince of Ice]

Technically Stannis has the best claim right now because the Targaryen dynasty was overthrown by right of conquest by the Baratheons. However obvious as it is if Aegon or Dany take the throne Stannis loses the IT by right of conquest. Simple as that.

[Fat Mac]

By blood, if Aegon is real it seems to go Aegon->Stannis->Daenerys

But since Aegon could possibly be fake, it would be Stannis->Daenerys->Aegon? Because if Aegon is a Blackfyre than that surely means their status as legitimate Targaryens has been revoked?

[Sullen]

Baratheon claimed the throne by right of conquest. Targs don't really have a claim anymore, but there are people who still view Baratheons as usurpers. Stannis has the claim. The Targs would only have claim to the throne now through being distant cousins with Baratheon.

Stannis cannot prove Tommen's bastardy.

Tommen has the claim.