Aegon's Conquest: Everything We Know About The Story From Fire & Blood And ASOIF
Nicholas Becher is a gaming journalist with an MFA in Creative Writing from FAU. With extensive experience playing video games, he covers all forms of gaming content at Screen Rant, from breaking news to the latest fan theories. Most-played games range from Clair Obscur to Civ to Elden Ring to Halo 2 and beyond.
The Aegon's Conquest film just received a major update with an official release date set for June 1, 2029, meaning Game of Thrones fans still have nearly three years to wait before Aegon Targaryen finally makes his big-screen debut. While specific story details remain under wraps, the identity of its central character means there is already plenty to work with when it comes to predicting what the film could entail.
Aegon the Conqueror's campaign to unite Westeros is one of the most important events in George R.R. Martin's fictional history, and much of it is chronicled extensively in Fire & Blood. Additional references scattered throughout the A Song of Ice and Fire novels provide even more context about Aegon, his victories, and the legacy he left behind. From the kingdoms and characters involved to some of the biggest battles in Westerosi history, the source material provides a rather detailed roadmap for the Aegon's Conquest story itself, though it's hard to say exactly where the adaptation will take liberties vs. follow the source material faithfully.
That uncertainty is especially important when it comes to Fire & Blood, which is presented as an in-universe historical account assembled from sometimes conflicting sources, leaving parts of Aegon's story deliberately open to interpretation.
When Aegon's Conquest Takes Place & What Westeros Looks Like
Aegon's Conquest will take audiences back roughly three centuries before the events of Game of Thrones, to a Westeros that looks very different from the realm ruled from King's Landing. At this point, there is no Iron Throne, no capital at King's Landing, and no unified Seven Kingdoms. Instead, Westeros is divided among several independent rulers, including the Starks in the North, Arryns in the Vale, Lannisters in the Westerlands, Gardeners in the Reach, Durrandons in the Stormlands, Martells in Dorne, and House Hoare, which controls the Iron Islands and Riverlands.
Fire & Blood begins even earlier by establishing the Targaryens' connection to Old Valyria, the enormously powerful civilization whose dragonlords dominated much of Essos. According to the book, Daenys Targaryen dreamed that Valyria would be destroyed, prompting her father, Aenar Targaryen, to relocate his family and their dragons to Dragonstone twelve years before the catastrophe.
The Doom of Valyria then destroyed the Valyrian Freehold in 102 BC, leaving the Targaryens as the only surviving dragonlord family of significance. They remained on Dragonstone for generations rather than immediately attempting to conquer Westeros. Nearly a century later, Aegon Targaryen and his sisters, Visenya and Rhaenys, would finally turn their attention westward. Aegon's invasion begins in 2 BC, with the new dating system eventually measuring Westerosi history around his conquest and coronation.
Every Major Character In Aegon's Conquest
Although Aegon's Conquest will naturally revolve around Aegon Targaryen, Fire & Blood gives the story a sizable ensemble drawn from nearly every corner of Westeros. Most importantly, Aegon does not conquer the continent alone. His sisters/wives Visenya and Rhaenys Targaryen are independently responsible for major portions of the campaign, riding Vhagar and Meraxes while Aegon rides Balerion.
The most important figures the film could draw from include:
- Aegon Targaryen: The future Aegon the Conqueror, who sets out to bring Westeros under a single crown with Balerion the Black Dread.
- Visenya Targaryen: Aegon's elder sister-wife, a formidable warrior and the rider of Vhagar. Her campaign takes her prominently into the Vale.
- Rhaenys Targaryen: Aegon's younger sister-wife and rider of Meraxes, who heads to the Stormlands and (unsuccessfully) attempts to bring Dorne into Aegon's realm.
- Orys Baratheon: Aegon's closest friend and rumored bastard half-brother, whose victory over the Storm King ultimately establishes House Baratheon as the ruling house of the Stormlands.
- Argilac Durrandon: The aging Storm King, whose dispute with Aegon sets the Conquest in motion.
- Argella Durrandon: Argilac's daughter and eventual wife of Orys, connecting the old Durrandon dynasty to House Baratheon.
- Harren Hoare: Harren the Black, ruler of the Iron Islands and Riverlands and master of the newly completed Harrenhal.
- Edmyn Tully: One of the riverlords who turns against Harren and supports Aegon.
- Loren Lannister and Mern IX Gardener: The Kings of the Rock and Reach, respectively, who unite against Aegon at the Field of Fire. Mern's death ultimately ends House Gardener's ruling line.
- Torrhen Stark: The King in the North, remembered as the "King Who Knelt" for choosing submission over war.
- Sharra and Ronnel Arryn: The Vale's queen regent and young king, whose encounter with Visenya gives the Conquest one of its more unusual victories.
- Meria Martell: The elderly Princess of Dorne who refuses to submit, leaving Dorne as the one kingdom Aegon fails to conquer.
Together, these figures give the film considerably more to work with than simply Aegon burning his way across Westeros. The Conquest is also a story about alliances, surrender, dynastic extinction, and the creation of several ruling houses that remain important centuries later.
The most likely antagonists are therefore the Westerosi rulers who directly resist Aegon's invasion, though the story is unlikely to have a single conventional villain. Harren the Black is perhaps the clearest candidate, given his brutal reputation, control over the Riverlands, and refusal to surrender Harrenhal even against Balerion. Argilac Durrandon also serves as an early opponent, with his dispute with Aegon helping trigger the conflict in the first place.
Later, Loren Lannister and Mern Gardener become major military adversaries when they combine their armies against the Targaryens at the Field of Fire. Meria Martell, meanwhile, doesn't necessarily confront Aegon in a decisive battle, but Dorne refuses to submit nonetheless.
Fire & Blood Reveals The Film's Potential Story & Biggest Battles
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While the Fire & Blood chapter on Aegon's Conquest only spans a few dozen pages, it provides enough material for an extremely eventful film. The conflict begins when Argilac Durrandon, the Storm King, proposes an alliance through marriage. Aegon's counteroffer is rejected, Argilac mutilates his envoy, and Aegon subsequently announces his intention to become the sole king of Westeros.
Aegon lands near the mouth of the Blackwater Rush with a relatively small force and establishes the Aegonfort, around which King's Landing will eventually grow. From there, the Targaryens divide their forces. Aegon marches into the Riverlands, while Rhaenys and Orys Baratheon head toward the Stormlands and Visenya takes the fight toward the Vale.
That creates several potential major set pieces, as Aegon's confrontation with Harren the Black ends with Balerion burning Harrenhal and House Hoare inside its supposedly impregnable walls. Rhaenys and Orys subsequently defeat Argilac at the Last Storm, with Orys personally killing the Storm King and eventually taking Storm's End.
The largest battle, however, is the Field of Fire, which is almost guaranteed to be a major event in the film. Kings Mern Gardener and Loren Lannister assemble approximately 55,000 men against Aegon's much smaller army, only for Aegon, Visenya, and Rhaenys to unleash Balerion, Vhagar, and Meraxes together. Thousands die, House Gardener's ruling line is effectively destroyed, and Loren eventually submits. It is the only battle of the Conquest in which all three dragons fight together.
In the North, Torrhen Stark chooses to kneel rather than face the dragons, while Visenya secures the Vale without another massive battle. Dorne alone refuses to submit, leaving Aegon's conquest incomplete. The chapter ultimately culminates with Aegon's arrival in Oldtown and his coronation by the High Septon, providing the film with a natural ending: the conqueror formally becoming Aegon I Targaryen, King of the Seven Kingdoms, even if one kingdom technically remains beyond his control.
A Song Of Ice And Fire Adds Even More To Aegon's Story
While Fire & Blood provides the clearest account of Aegon's Conquest itself, the main A Song of Ice and Fire novels add valuable context about how Aegon and his victories are remembered nearly three centuries later. His conquest is repeatedly referenced by characters as the defining example of how dragons reshaped the political order of Westeros, while the consequences of his decisions remain visible throughout the series.
Stannis Baratheon, for example, reflects on Aegon's Painted Table and the fact that it depicted Westeros without the borders separating its kingdoms, suggesting that Aegon envisioned the continent as a single realm before he ever conquered it. Torrhen Stark's decision to kneel is likewise still debated generations later, with Catelyn Stark mentioning the "King Who Knelt" while discussing the dangers of continuing a seemingly unwinnable war.
Other characters remember Aegon primarily through the overwhelming power of his dragons. Daenerys, Tyrion, Jorah, and others repeatedly reference the Conquest when considering what it would take to seize or hold the Iron Throne. Harrenhal's ruined towers, meanwhile, remain a physical reminder of what Balerion could do to even the strongest fortress in Westeros.
Those references may not reveal entirely new events for the film to adapt, but they provide a clearer picture of Aegon's lasting impact as a conqueror. Exactly how closely the movie follows the source material remains unclear, especially given Fire & Blood's deliberately unreliable perspective on events. Still, with Aegon's Conquest so extensively documented across George R.R. Martin's work, the filmmakers already have an extremely detailed foundation for bringing one of Westeros' most important and destructive eras to the big screen.
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