Dance of the Dragons

Viserys I Targaryen dies in his sleep, on the third day of the third month of 129 AC. His death leaves the succession open between his two surviving children, Princess Rhaenyra and Prince Aegon, and that is how the war later remembered as the Dance of the Dragons begins.

In King's Landing, Prince Aegon is crowned king under the name Aegon II. It is the first of two coronations that year: a city that until then had one king starts 129 AC arguing over which of two heirs deserves the crown.

At Dragonstone, Princess Rhaenyra is crowned by her own husband, Prince Daemon Targaryen, as queen under the name Rhaenyra I. From that point on, two Targaryen monarchs claim the same throne, each with a court, a city, and dragons of their own.

The celebration at Dragonstone comes with a loss: a daughter of Rhaenyra and Daemon, whom they had named Visenya, is stillborn in the castle. For the family fighting this war, it begins with a small funeral that no chronicle of battles records.

Several lords refuse to swear loyalty to the new king: Lord Buckler, Lord Caswell, Lord Harte, Lord Hayford, and Lady Fell. All of them end up beheaded by the King's Justice.

In the council chamber itself, Ser Criston Cole kills Lord Lyman Beesbury, the old master of coin who had opposed the coronation.

Around the same time, Prince Aemond becomes betrothed to one of Lord Borros Baratheon's daughters. It is more a pact than a romance: House Baratheon fights on Aegon II's side, and the match ties that alliance closer within the family.

Prince Lucerys Velaryon dies at the hands of his own uncle, Prince Aemond Targaryen, in a clash that happens in the air. Lucerys rides Arrax, a young dragon; Aemond rides Vhagar, the oldest and largest living dragon of those years. Arrax does not survive the encounter.

Arrax is the first dragon to die in the war. He will not be the last that year.

That same year, a man known as Blood kills Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen. Grand Maester Gerardys meets a different end: he is eaten by the dragon Sunfyre.

At the Battle of Rook's Rest, Princess Rhaenys Targaryen dies. Her dragon, Meleys, falls in the same fight, with her rider still on her back.

Three men try their luck with dragons no one had ridden before, and none of them survives. Ser Steffon Darklyn falls trying to mount Seasmoke. Vermithor kills Gormon Massey. Denys Argenta fails to master Sheepstealer, and does not live to tell of it.