Who was the Mad King in Game of Thrones? Aerys II Targaryen's story, explained

Aerys II Targaryen, or "the Mad King" as he is more popularly known, was the last of the Targaryen kings of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros before events in Game of Thrones. His rule, from 262 AC to 283 AC, is widely accepted among historians in the world of fantasy to have been a turning point for Westeros' history. His reign record is not just an individual sorrow but also the reason for the decline of a dynasty that had existed for nearly three centuries.

Aerys took the throne at a time when Targaryen control was already in decline from self-destructive internal conflict, loss of dragons, and the continuing effects of the Blackfyre Rebellions. In addition, Aerys's growing madness and tyrannical policies shook the realm, drove great noble houses to revolt, and played a direct causative factor in Robert's Rebellion—a civil war that would reorder Westerosian politics.

Let us descend into the bloody past of Aerys II Targaryen and sort out the threads that enwrap the Mad King's reign, madness, and legacy that continue to sear the pages of Westerosi history.

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Aerys II Targaryen: The rise and fall of the Mad King

Early life and accession to the throne

Aerys II Targaryen, better known to Westerosi history as "the Mad King," was born into the House Targaryen—a family that descended straight out of Valyria with dragons, silver hair, and a tendency to marry siblings. His ancestors had ruled Westeros since Aegon the Conqueror swept in on Balerion the Black Dread and said, this is mine, now.

As a young prince, Aerys actually did have promise.

He was smooth, driven, and for a little while, it looked like he was going to overcome the family curse. He squired for Lord Desmond Swann in the War of the Ninepenny Kings, and he even got his knighthood at sixteen—basically, he was oozing golden boy with a sword. People thought he might become the next Jaehaerys the Conciliator, one of the only Targaryen kings that everybody could agree upon was actually good at being a king. And then in 262 AC, his father Jaehaerys II died, and Aerys took the Iron Throne.

He was left a kingdom technically in peace but still with the scars of civil war, uprisings, and the bizarre Summerhall tragedy (you remember, that one where a group of royals burned up in a fire attempting to bring back dragons).

But Aerys had grand plans. He talked about building marble cities, extending the Wall in the north, taking the Stepstones, and besieging Braavos with an enormous war fleet. Essentially, he wished to be remembered as "Aerys the Wise" or "Aerys the Great".

By his side were two of his close friends: Tywin Lannister and Steffon Baratheon. The three of them were as thick as thieves in their younger years, a Westerosi boy band of sorts with royal aspirations. Unfortunately, like all good boy bands, drama and betrayal soon followed.

The descent into madness

At first, it was all right-ish. Aerys could be reckless, but Tywin—Hand of the King—was capable, cold-blooded, and wise enough to keep the kingdom functioning while discreetly swatting aside the king's crazier notions. Westeros prospered, and folks began thinking perhaps Aerys would live up to all the hype.

But ego? Ego destroys everything.

Aerys couldn't tolerate that folks would whisper Tywin was the "true power behind the throne". He seethed with jealousy. And then there was the tipping point: the Defiance of Duskendale.

Aerys was kidnapped. Lord Denys Darklyn downright kidnapped the king—something nobody would even dream of doing to a Targaryen since Maegor the Cruel's time.

The king was held hostage for six lo-o-o-ng, humiliating months. When Ser Barristan Selmy eventually busted him out, Aerys wasn't the same. His trauma warped into something sinister. The man who sat on the throne again wasn't merely paranoid—he was shattered. He saw enemies everywhere. His punishments were the material of nightmares: flayings, incinerations, offhand killings.

He became fixated on wildfire. Like, full-on pyromania. And his mind went downhill—one minute screaming with laughter, the next weeping with silence, then suddenly calling for someone's head.

Aerys was a walking red flag by 281 AC. His marriage to Rhaella, which was already strained, turned violent. The royal court was more of a haunted house run by a tempestuous madman.

The breakdown of alliances

And if all this wasn't enough, Aerys began turning against anybody who'd ever been near him. He became paranoid of his own son, Rhaegar. Following the infamous Tourney at Harrenhal, Aerys became convinced it was a cover for a coup.

He also publicly insulted Tywin's wife, Joanna Lannister, and declined to wed Rhaegar to Cersei. Tywin, already exasperated, dropped the mic and resigned as Hand. Aerys just lost his final hold on reality.

Now unchecked, his delusions grew larger and more perilous. He craved war with Braavos. He dreamed of rebuilding the Wall. His grand schemes weren't merely impractical—but straight-up delusional.

Meanwhile, he alienated nearly every great house in the realm. Westeros wasn't simply under poor management—it was on the brink of collapse.

The defiance of Duskendale (The trauma that broke the Mad King)

Let's go back to Duskendale for a moment, because that was the trauma that shattered the Mad King. When Lord Darklyn hostage-kidnapped the king over a tax issue, that broke the Targaryen myth of god-like invincibility. No dragons. No macho moves. Just a cowering king locked away in a dungeon.

When released, Aerys went scorched earth. He destroyed House Darklyn and anyone else who dared to support them, innocent or not. That massacre was the point of no return. From now on, Aerys wasn't paranoid—he was monstrous.

Fast forward a few years, and things hit a boiling point. Rhaegar allegedly kidnapped Lyanna Stark. Whether it was love or abduction is still debated like the ending of Lost, but what’s undeniable is Aerys’s response.

Brandon Stark rode to King's Landing to demand her back. The Mad King had him and his friends brutally killed. And then when Rickard Stark rode to negotiate, he killed him too—in a gruesome public execution with wildfire.

By then, the Mad King wasn't only being cruel—he was being cinematic with it. These weren't punishments so much as they were public horror shows.

The people were outraged. The Starks, Baratheons, and Arryns rebelled. Robert's Rebellion started, and Aerys descended further into madness. His solution was to burn everything. Literally. He stored caches of wildfire beneath King's Landing to ignite the capital in a massive green mushroom cloud if things didn't go his way.

Also, in a completely horrific twist, he was only turned on sexually by seeing individuals burn.

The fall of the Mad King

As the rebellion picked up momentum, the Mad King lost his grip. Rhaegar was slain by Robert Baratheon at the Battle of the Trident. With the capital exposed, Tywin Lannister appeared at the gates under the guise of being on Aerys's side. The king admitted him. Big mistake.

The Lannisters burned the city. Jaime Lannister, bound to defend Aerys as a member of the Kingsguard, witnessed what was to come—Aerys instructing the city's burning—and made a decision. He slew the king. One swift sword stroke. And just like that, the Mad King was dead, and Jaime became known as the "Kingslayer".

Robert Baratheon occupied the throne. The Targaryen line had ended. But the trauma, the repercussions, and that legacy survived.

Legacy and reassessment

The Mad King's story tends to be told as a cautionary tale about unchecked power and mental illness. But some fans have pointed out that most of our info comes from his enemies—Robert’s camp, Lannisters, and rebel loyalists. Was everything as black-and-white as we’ve been told?

Likely not. But even Aerys's own friends—such as Barristan Selmy—authenticated his slide into madness. So while the "Mad King" epithet may be partly propaganda, there's enough smoke there to be fire.

Mad King's rule reminds us how precarious a monarchy can be, particularly when it's constructed from legacy, paranoia, and dragonless mystique. And his legacy doesn't stop with his death. His offspring, Viserys and Daenerys, inherit the trauma into the next generation. And the realm is still traumatized by wildfire and rumors of insanity.

Aerys II, aka the Mad King, was more than a bad guy in an epic fantasy novel—he was a political disaster, a tragic character study, and a red flag wrapped in royal silk.