House Of The Dragon: The Dance Of The Dragons Timeline And Chronology Of The Major Events, Explained

The Dance of the Dragons is the upcoming House of the Dragon‘s civil war, fought between half-siblings, Queen Rhaenyra and Aegon II Targaryen. The claimants to the Iron Throne are supported by their factions, known as the Greens and the Blacks in lore and in the show’s canon. Rhaenyra and Aegon have different mothers but the same father, i.e., King Viserys.

The late King killed his first wife, and Rhaenyra’s mother, Queen Aemma Arryn, against her will in childbed, and after a series of events, was led to remarry his cunning Hand’s daughter, Alicent Hightower. As seen in House of the Dragon, Viserys’ death sparked the war of succession between his decreed heir, Rhaenyra, and his son, Prince Aegon. The Dance of the Dragons is a collection of occurrences that begins after Viserys I dies in 129 AC and ends with King Aegon’s death in 131 AC.

King Viserys’ Death Sparks The Dance Of The Dragons

As seen in House of the Dragon season 1, episode 8 “The Lord of the Tides,” King Viserys mistakes Alicent Hightower for his daughter, Princess Rhaenyra, on his deathbed. He reiterates Aegon the Conqueror’s Prophecy, i.e., the Song of Ice and Fire to her:

Don’t you [Rhaenyra] remember… Aegon… [the Conqueror] His Dream. The Song of Ice… and Fir… It is true. What he saw in the North. The Prince That Was Promised… The Prince… To unite the realm against the cold… and the dark. It is you. You are the one. You must do this.

Alicent takes it to mean that Viserys no longer wants their firstborn male, Prince Aegon, on the throne. Viserys breathes his last and Alicent gives him an affirmative answer:

I understand, my King.

Alicent misinterprets Aegon’s Song as Viserys wanting their son, Prince Aegon, to succeed him, and this is her motivation behind the usurpation of power, and the coup in King’s Landing. Princess Rhaenyra and her faction are at Dragonstone, while the Greens, divided by opinions, follow Alicent and install the Conqueror’s namesake, Aegon, on the throne.

House Of The Dragon: What Is The Green Council?

House of the Dragon season 1, episode 9 “The Green Council,” opens with Alicent’s handmaiden, Talya, bringing her the news of Viserys’ death. She jumps out of bed, gets dressed, and goes straight to her father, Otto, who worries about how far the news has spread.

Who knows?

The Greens would like an embargo on the news, fearing that the Blacks might strike. The father-daughter duo convenes an emergency Small Council meeting before dawn. The Green Council is presided by Alicent with Ser Criston Cole by her side. Master of Ships, Tyland Lannister, Master of Laws, Jasper Wylde, Master of Coin, Lyman Beesbury, Grand Maester Orwyle, and the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Harrold Westerling are in the chamber. All of them are in the Green camp, save for Lyman and Harrold.

Otto suggests Ser Harrold murder Rhaenyra and her kin but is met with Alicent’s disapproval. Alicent is shocked to learn that Tyland, Otto, and Jasper have been planning to depose Rhaenyra all along. Lord Lyman accuses the Greens of power grab and treason, but Criston Cole aggressively pushes him down and smashes his skull. Harrold Westerling quits in response, and Alicent notifies her father that she is in command and not him.

In the hours after King Viserys’ death, the Greens imprison Lord Merryweather and Lady Fell as they refuse to pay obeisance to the new king. Lord Allun Caswell gets the short end of the stick as he feigns loyalty to the Green camp but is arrested. He’s sent to the gallows, and Princess Rhaenys is held captive. Criston Cole and Aemond Targaryen fetch Aegon from the Grand Sept and take him to Alicent. Ser Erryk Cargyll defects from the Greens, helps Princess Rhaenys escape, and travels to Dragonstone with Viserys’ two-tone crown. Rhaenyra is crowned at Dragonstone and holds two war councils.

The Dance truly kicks off when Aemond (Kinslayer) causes the deaths of his nephew, Lucerys Velaryon, and his mount, Arrax, in a dragon chase above Shipbreaker Bay. The Assault on Harrenhal precedes the Dance above Shipbreaker Bay in lore but hasn’t made it to House of the Dragon‘s canon, yet. It sees Prince Daemon seize Harrenhal in the name of Rhaenyra from the Greens’ vassal, Ser Simon Strong.

Per House of the Dragon – Season 1, Aegon is coronated in front of the masses in the Dragonpit, House Velaryon declares for Rhaenyra, and the Blacks have declarations from Celtigar, Staunton, Massey, Darklyn, and Bar Emmon.

The Major Events Of The Dance Of The Dragons

Timeline Of The Dance Of The Dragons

129 AC: Blood And Cheese

Mysaria, on behalf of Daemon, sanctions the Blood and Cheese plot in response to Lucerys Velaryon’s assassination. Two assassins, under the aliases of Blood (an expelled City Watch serjeant) and Cheese (a rat-catcher of the keep) sneak into the castle and murder Aegon II’s heir in front of his mother, Helaena. The assassins flee with Prince Jaehaerys’ head, and Helaena loses her sense of self.

129 AC: Civil War In The Riverlands And The Battle Of The Burning Mill

The Central region of the Seven Kingdoms – the Riverlands becomes a battleground after Prince Lucerys and Prince Jaehaerys’ assassinations. House Blackwood (in the name of Queen Rhaenyra) invaded the holdings of House Bracken (Aegon II). Their forces clash and the Brackens are defeated in the Battle of the Burning Mill. The army cannot find refuge in their haven of Stone Hedge as the castle has fallen to the Blacks. As a result, the Brackens surrender, and Aegon II is alienated in the Riverlands.

129 AC: The New Green Hand

The Greens suffer one setback after another; Aegon II grows increasingly agitated with his Hand and grandfather, Otto, and dismisses him. He chooses his Lord Commander, Criston Cole, to hold the office of the Hand, and the military man’s approach is far more ruthless than the Hand’s.

Otto strengthens the capital’s defenses before dismissal and seeks allies across the Narrow Sea. He wishes to ally with the Triarchy, who’d already made enemies with Daemon and the Velaryons during the War for the Stepstones. Dorne stays out of the war, the Vale and the North are in the Black camp, as are the lords of the Reach, namely Costayne, Mullendore, Tarly, Rowan, and Grimm. The Greyjoys refuse the Greens’ support while Otto waits to hear from the Triarchy.

129 AC: Duel Of The Cargyll Twins

The Dance of the Dragons divides the Cargyll Kingsguards. Ser Arryk turns a blind eye to Aegon II’s misdemeanors and immoral deeds because of his oath. He stays with his King, while Ser Erryk grows increasingly disillusioned and travels to Dragonstone.

Ser Erryk is Rhaenyra’s Queensguard, while Arryk is Aegon’s Kingsguard. On Criston Cole’s suggestion, Arryk is sent to Dragonstone as a pretender Erryk to do the Greens’ dirty work. The lore is ambiguous about whether Arryk is to kill Rhaenyra or her children, but this infiltration leads to a deadly duel between the Cargyll twins.

129 AC: Duskendale, Rook’s Rest, The Deaths Of Princess Rhaenys And Meleys

Under Criston Cole, the Greens sack Duskendale and behead the Rhaenyra loyalist – Lord Darklyn. The forces then move to the seat of House Staunton, i.e., Rook’s Rest, and lay siege to the castle.

Lord Staunton sends ravens to Dragonstone asking for help, and Princess Rhaenys arrives atop Meleys nine days later. Aegon II and Aemond ambush her, and she is killed. Aegon and Sunfyre are grievously hurt in the fight, while Aemond and Vhagar are the battle’s stars. The Greens parade Meleys’ head throughout the streets of King’s Landing to create free psychosis among the masses. Aegon recuperates at King’s Landing while Sunfyre is kept at Rook’s Rest to allow him time to heal. After the Battle at Rook’s Rest, Aemond rules as Prince Reagent and Protector of the Realm.

The End Of 129 AC: The Dragonseeds And The Sowing

After Princess Rhaenys’ death, Jacaerys set his sights on the capital. To that end, he appeases the late Princess Rhaenys’ husband, Corlys, by appointing him as the Queen’s Hand. Jacaerys wants to take unclaimed dragons to war and calls on the baseborn Targaryen descendants to mount them.

Jacaerys makes lucrative offers and people from all walks of life, such as sailors, mummers, knights at Dragonstone, Rhaenyra’s two Queensguards, squires, scullions, and men-at-arms try their luck in an event known as the Sowing in lore. Grand Maester Munkun’s True Telling says sixteen were killed in the Sowing, and forty-eight were burned or injured. The victorious four are Addam of Hull, a girl named Nettles, a blacksmith’s bastard, Hugh Hammer, and a man-at-arms, Ulf White.

130 AC: Battle Of The Gullet

Jacaerys decides his youngest half-brothers, Aegon and Viserys Targaryen, would be better off if they were fostered at Pentos by the Pentoshi Prince. This arrangement is in force until their mother secures the capital. Accompanied by Corlys’ seven warships, the Princes are shipped off to Pentos on a cog named the Gay Abandon.

In the meantime, the High Council of the Triarchy agrees to lend support to the Greens. Ninety warships intend to end the Blacks’ militarization of the Gullet. They ambush the Pentoshi cog, and while Aegon manages to flee on Stormcloud, Viserys is captured. Following the ambush, the Blacks launch an operation in the Gullet. Four Dragonseeds fly alongside Prince Jacaerys and Vermax and set the warships ablaze.

Jacaerys and Vermax die in battle, and the Triarchy loses 62 warships. The Greens fail to break the Velaryon fleet’s dominance on the eastern coast of Westeros, and it is a no-win situation for both factions.

130 AC: Fall Of King’s Landing

The Greens (led by Aemond and Cole) march to Harrenhal, while the Blacks seize this opportunity and take King’s Landing. Prince Daemon Targaryen arrives on Caraxes and Rhaenyra Targaryen on Syrax, while Corlys Velaryon lands in the east of Blackwater Bay.

The Dowager Queen, Alicent, fails to get the word out, and the Gold Cloaks turn on the Greens. It is pertinent to remember that Prince Daemon was once the Commander of the City Watch of King’s Landing, and the Gold Cloaks are loyal to him. The capital falls within a day and Alicent surrenders. She and Helaena Targaryen are taken hostages. Larys Strong helps Aegon II flee, but Otto and Jasper Wylde are executed.

130 AC: First Tumbleton

The First Battle of Tumbleton in the Reach is a victory for the Greens, thanks to the Two Betrayers – Hugh Hammer and Ulf White. Otto Hightower’s nephew, Ormund, leads the march to King’s Landing and the Blacks dispatch Ulf and Hugh to the seat of Tumbleton, which is Rhaenyra’s last stronghold or buffer between King’s Landing and the Hightower forces.

Ulf and Hugh, atop Vermithor and Silverwing, switch allegiances and set fire to the buildings and people of Tumbleton. The Greens’ forces proceed to rampage through the town in the most dishonorable fashion.

130 AC: Fall Of Dragonstone

The original seat of House Targaryen of Westeros and Rhaenyra’s stronghold, Dragonstone, falls to the Greens in 130 AC. The Fall Of King’s Landing paves the way for the Fall of Dragonstone. Ser Alfred Broome is resentful of Rhaenyra choosing Ser Robert Quince over him as Dragonstone’s castellan. He betrays Quince and kills him for the Greens.

Lady Baela’s Moondancer dies fighting Sunfyre while Aegon II breaks his legs. Sunfyre is rendered flightless after the fight, and Baela becomes the Greens’ captive.

130 AC: Battle Above The Gods Eye

Prince Daemon and Prince Aemond fight atop their dragons in the skies of the Gods Eye lake, near Harrenhal. The Greens and the Blacks lose their best men and the Targaryens lose the two largest dragons. By all accounts, the Battle Above the Gods Eye is a catastrophe for House Targaryen.

130 AC: Storming Of The Dragonpit

After Queen Helaena dies of suicide, a frenzied mob led by the Begging Brother, named Shepherd, storms the Dragonpit. Prince Joffrey Velaryon uses his mother’s mount, Syrax, to get to the Dragonpit, but is pushed off the dragonback and plummets to his death. The mob kills four dragons inside, including Queen Rhaenyra’s Syrax, who was previously freed from the Red Keep by Joffrey.

130 AC: Rhaenyra’s Death

After the riots, Rhaenyra heeds the advice and leaves the capital with her surviving son, Aegon, unaware that Dragonstone has fallen to Aegon II. The mother-son duo are captured at Dragonstone and brought before Aegon II. Prince Aegon watches in horror as Aegon II feeds Rhaenyra to Sunfyre. He endures a lifelong trauma and harbors a hatred of dragons.

131 AC: Aegon II’s Death

Aegon II rules over ash and bone, unbothered by the march of a large host of the Valemen, the Riverlords, and the Northmen under Cregan Stark. Unwilling to relinquish power, or mend things, people in the Red Keep poison him.

Cregan Stark condemns the key suspects, Corlys Velaryon, Larys Strong, Perkin the Flea, and many others during the Hour of the Wolf. At the end of the Dance of the Dragons, Aegon the Younger is installed on the Iron Throne. He is wed to Aegon II’s daughter, Jaehaera, to end the kin strife in House Targaryen.

House of the Dragon Season 2 premieres June 16 at 9/8c on HBO and Max.