Maekar Targaryen was Daeron II's fourth son, given Summerhall as his own seat and, by most accounts, a harder and more short-tempered nature than his elder brothers' — a soldier's temperament that served him well fighting his own bastard half-uncle's forces at the First Blackfyre Rebellion in 196 AC, and rather worse at a tourney some years later. At the Ashford tourney of 209 AC, defending the honor of a woman not his wife in a trial of seven, Maekar struck down his own elder brother Baelor Breakspear, the realm's presumed next king, in what every surviving account insists was an accident of the melee rather than intent — a tragedy that removed Maekar's brother from the succession and set Maekar himself, however unwillingly, several steps closer to a crown he had never been raised to expect.
Maekar I Targaryen
Prince of Summerhall
- Life
- no fixed AC year given in the text; the fourth son of Daeron II and Myriah Martell
- House
- Targaryen
- Titles
- Prince of Summerhall · King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men · Lord of the Seven Kingdoms
- Allegiance
- House Targaryen
- Seat
- Summerhall, later King's Landing (the Red Keep)
- Culture
- Valyrian (Targaryen)
- Religion
- The Faith of the Seven
- Notable for
- A soldier-prince who accidentally killed his own brother at a tourney, and came to the throne only after further family tragedy
A soldier-prince who came to the crown only after tragedy in his own family — the chronicle holds the ending of his reign back for readers not yet there.
Key events
- no fixed yearBorn the fourth son of Daeron II and Myriah Martell, given Summerhall as his own seat.
- 196 ACFights in the First Blackfyre Rebellion against his own bastard half-uncle's forces.
- 209 ACAt the Ashford tourney, strikes down his own elder brother Baelor Breakspear, the realm's presumed next king, in what every account calls an accident of the melee.
- c. 209-221 ACIs left the last of Daeron II's sons standing after further, unrelated deaths in the royal family.
- 221 ACComes to the Iron Throne, already better known as a soldier than a statesman.
- 221-233 ACRules a workmanlike twelve-year reign, neither beloved nor especially troubled.
- 233 ACLeads the final assault on Starpike in person during the Peake Uprising, and is killed when a dropped stone crushes the crown still on his helm.
Reading the character
Maekar I's path to the Iron Throne is one of Fire & Blood's clearest illustrations of how much of Targaryen succession came down to accident rather than design. He is a fourth son who was never supposed to rule, and the single event that reroutes his life — striking down his own brother in what every surviving account insists was a genuine tourney accident — is exactly the kind of story that makes dynastic history feel less like a plan unfolding than a sequence of tragedies nobody could have anticipated.
His reign afterward reflects a man who never really stopped being a soldier first: workmanlike rather than visionary, and ended, fittingly, on a battlefield he insisted on commanding in person rather than from a safe remove — a choice that costs him his life in a rebellion he might otherwise have survived to see put down by someone else's hand.
The arc of Maekar I Targaryen
This carries the character’s road through the published novels. Read on only if you do not fear to know.
These partings name deaths, endings, and roads not yet ridden in the books. Unveil them only if both roads are known to you — or if you do not fear to know.
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Who is Maekar I Targaryen?
The fourth son of Daeron II, a soldier-prince who accidentally killed his own brother in a tourney accident and came to the Iron Throne only after several unexpected deaths in the royal family.
Is Maekar I Targaryen alive?
No — the chronicle need only say that leading the final assault of the Peake Uprising in person cost him dearly; the particulars are treated in his veiled record.