where is the rest of targ ?

[Señor de la Tormenta]

Get aerys as an example. He has three kids. One of them alredy has two of his own. And the others would probably do the same later.... Thoese kids would later had they own sons and so on.... This should be happening for the last 300 years or even more. If you think about the english throne for example, they have 1, 2 up to a 100 in the line of sucesion.... What martin does doesnt seam real.

You can tell me is because they marry each other, what would lead into a smaller family. But is the same thing with other major houses. Stannis is the last baratheon, edmure and bryden de last tullys.... No one more with the name is named in their banners...

Martin only seams real with lannisters, who work as a real family. With brothers, cousins and so...

Dont know. Its sonething that bugs me.

[The Dornishman's Wife]

Get aerys as an example. He has three kids. One of them alredy has two of his own. And the others would probably do the same later.... Thoese kids would later had they own sons and so on.... This should be happening for the last 300 years or even more. If you think about the english throne for example, they have 1, 2 up to a 100 in the line of sucesion.... What martin does doesnt seam real.

You can tell me is because they marry each other, what would lead into a smaller family. But is the same thing with other major houses. Stannis is the last baratheon, edmure and bryden de last tullys.... No one more with the name is named in their banners...

Martin only seams real with lannisters, who work as a real family. With brothers, cousins and so...

Dont know. Its sonething that bugs me.

If the overall population remains roughly the same, then on average the population for each surname will remain constant as well.

And while there are certainly Baratheon (and Tully etc) descendants carrying a different surname, we would only know about them if the relationship is very close.

Usually too far a relationship (and through the female line on top of that) is not important, either because the family has enough direct heirs for them not to be needed, or because they are so distant that the main family don't want them to inherit (see the Stark descendants in the Vale, Cat suggests they might inherit, Robb is categorically against that). Sometimes it does come up though, e.g. in the Arryn inheritance, and then we see that even though the name "Arryn" is on the brink of distinction, the net of Arryn descendants has been spread pretty wide (and Harry the Heir is the first one it catches).

[Queen Daenerys]

Get aerys as an example. He has three kids. One of them alredy has two of his own. And the others would probably do the same later.... Thoese kids would later had they own sons and so on.... This should be happening for the last 300 years or even more. If you think about the english throne for example, they have 1, 2 up to a 100 in the line of sucesion.... What martin does doesnt seam real.

You can tell me is because they marry each other, what would lead into a smaller family. But is the same thing with other major houses. Stannis is the last baratheon, edmure and bryden de last tullys.... No one more with the name is named in their banners...

Martin only seams real with lannisters, who work as a real family. With brothers, cousins and so...

Dont know. Its sonething that bugs me.

A lot of Targaryens (and cadet branches of Targaryens) were killed during the dance of the Dragons, and probably the Blackfyre rebellion. But yes I've always been surprised the Starks for exemple didn't have close cousins.

[Steinnis]

A lot of Targaryens (and cadet branches of Targaryens) were killed during the dance of the Dragons, and probably the Blackfyre rebellion. But yes I've always been surprised the Starks for exemple didn't have close cousins.

Well, the Karstarks claim some distant relation to the Starks, as a younger son moved up to Karhold and over time they were known as the Starks of Karhold, and then finally the Karstarks.

[Queen Daenerys]

Well, the Karstarks claim some distant relation to the Starks, as a younger son moved up to Karhold and over time they were known as the Starks of Karhold, and then finally the Karstarks.

Yes but they're really distant cousins. When I see all the Lannister cousins I find it surprising there are not even a few other Starks around. Maybe they had a tradition of sending younger sons to the Watch, but it's probably just that Martin couldn't afford to create even more characters. It's also true for the Martells, Tully, Arryn, and most of the main families. The Lannisters on the other hand have a lot of cousins and cadet branches, I think to show how organized and powerful they are.

[Thendel]

The Targaeryen family has been hit by its share of catastrophic events over the years: The Dance of the Dragons, the Great Spring Sickness, Summerhall and Robert's Rebellion all claimed many Targaeryen lives. Add in some childless kings (Maegor, Aegon II, Daeron I, Baelor I and Aerys I), a tendency to mental illness and a lot of inbreeding, and you've got yourself an explanation on why the family never grew that big.

[daario's man]

A lot of Targaryens (and cadet branches of Targaryens) were killed during the dance of the Dragons, and probably the Blackfyre rebellion. But yes I've always been surprised the Starks for exemple didn't have close cousins.

After Aerys, the Skagos rebellion and Dagon Greyjoy you can understand why the Starks are thin on the ground, never mind younger sons in the watch.

[joluoto]

The Great Spring Sickness killed many Targs. Egg and his son Duncan the Small died in summerhall. There still seem to be one unkown son of Aegon V though, except Duncan ans Jaehaerys. Jaehaerys II only has two children: Aerys and Rhaella. The only Targ unaccounted for except Aerys' children and grandchildren would be descendants of Aegon's unknown son (and I wouldn't be surprised if said son died while child or something, since I feel he isn't that important).

[MRHD]

Yes but they're really distant cousins. When I see all the Lannister cousins I find it surprising there are not even a few other Starks around. Maybe they had a tradition of sending younger sons to the Watch, but it's probably just that Martin couldn't afford to create even more characters. It's also true for the Martells, Tully, Arryn, and most of the main families. The Lannisters on the other hand have a lot of cousins and cadet branches, I think to show how organized and powerful they are.

Well, we learn in AFfC from Littlefinger that the Arryns at least have a lot of small cadet branches around the Vale. The thing is that these are more distant from the main branch than Harry the Heir and so really aren't seen as important. Indeed, it may be true of the Starks as well, at least according to this SSM:

http://www.westeros..../SSM/Entry/1239

Now that is a decade old, so maybe GRRM has changed his mind since then, but I think any minor cadet Stark branches would face the same issue as the Arryn ones: there is some minor lordling in the Vale with a claim better than their own, so they are too distantly related to be on anyone's radar.

As for the rest of the Targs, there has been speculation that the Free Cities might contain descendants of Aerion Brightflame and that this might even come up in respects to (f)Aegon's plot line, as Moqorro mentions dragons "bright and dark".