Who was the "Mad King" in Game of Thrones? Character arc, revisited 

Aerys II Targaryen, commonly known as the "Mad King," is one of the most important figures in the history of both HBO's Game of Thrones and George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series.

His downfall is still part of faded glory, corrupting power, and insanity. The character arc of Aerys is pivotal in Game of Thrones, not only due to its narrative contribution but also for the exploration of themes, such as historical trauma, political maneuverings, and the far-reaching impact of leadership gone wrong.

An exploration of the tragic trajectory of the Mad King also opens a window into the issues of dynastic succession, the burdens of the inherited past, and the subtle dance between political expediency and individual failing. As both a cautionary character and the impetus for the epochal disaster that is the so-called Robert's Rebellion, Aerys II's personal history is open to both horror and pity.

From the early days of Aerys’s rule to the instant he said “Burn them all,” the arc of the Mad King in Game of Thrones is a masterclass in character construction and thematic depth.

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The early reign of the Mad King

The time when Aerys II Targaryen took the Iron Throne was the time of hope in King’s Landing. The new king was considered to be very charming, easy to approach, and with great ambition. He was thought to be a ruler who might even surpass the former kings in the Targaryen family line.

His first years on the throne were characterized by stability, and it is widely believed that much of the political calmness was due to his confidence in Tywin Lannister, his friend from childhood and, eventually, Hand of the King. Tywin’s cunning rule made up for Aerys’s lack of experience, and the country was blessed with rare peace.

Aerys was not always the tyrant in legend and rumor. The historical accounts from that time in Westeros speak of the king’s court as a place full of life, open to new influences and large in expression. Noble peers and commoners initially saw Aerys as "the king who might restore Targaryen glory." Some even admired his eagerness to make his own mark: ambitious projects such as expanding the Wall or warring with the Iron Bank.

But the seeds of dissatisfaction were ever-present. As Aerys grew more obsessed with surpassing his forebears, rumors circulated about the real focal point of power in Westeros. Most perceived Tywin Lannister rather than Aerys himself as the mastermind of success, instigating the King's pride and jealousy. This underlying rivalry between ruler and minister was further troubled by personal inadequacies, failed marriages, and lost family members, all issues that slowly weakened the king's emotional fortitude.

In addition to his bright young life, Aerys's reign also came fray around the edges because of these personal and political strains. Impoliteness, perceived acts of treason, and insecurity took root and flourished as lasting grievances, preparing the way for the volatility that characterized his later life.

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The Defiance of Duskendale and its aftermath

The turning point in Aerys's life, the event most historians identify as the beginning of the "madness", was the Defiance of Duskendale. The king was held captive for six months by Lord Denys Darklyn, who had a dispute with the crown, and this was a very humiliating and painful experience for him that he never recovered from emotionally and physically.

Rescued by Ser Barristan Selmy, the King wreaked savage retribution: House Darklyn was totally wiped out, which included horrifying killings and acts of retribution that frightened not only the court but the whole kingdom.

History scholars and Game of Thrones aficionados agree that Aerys's captivity in Duskendale was the impetus for his development from a volatile but otherwise "normal" monarch to a paranoid hermit. After Duskendale, he no longer trusted even his most faithful counsellors. The king's fear of betrayal resulted in the random killing of his suspects, among them was the mutilation of Ser Ilyn Payne, and a terrifying mistrust that spread through every part of the Red Keep.

Aerys's advancing madness was fueled by personal tragedies such as his wife's miscarriages and stillbirths. Losses accompanied by growing political distrust created a man further withdrawn from the world he once wanted to rule. Aerys shunned the court and even his own kin while becoming enthralled by secrecy, prophecy, and most of all, wildfire, a deadly infatuation that foreshadowed his final destruction in Game of Thrones.

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Tyranny and madness: The reign of terror

The mid-to-late period of Aerys II’s rule was unquestionably characterized by terror, ferocity, and instability. Developing from a formerly promising monarch to the "Mad King," he ruled a court characterized by fear, brutality, and indiscriminate violence. Aerys's sadism became the fodder for rumor and official record: he took pleasure in burning his enemies alive, tortured animals and servants, and was reputed to have raped and killed women brought to him by his guards.

More systematic was his paranoia, which turned lethal for nobles and commoners alike. Allies were considered disloyal and then were treated as such; the most trusted advisors were separated from the court, dismembered, or executed without any reason. The notorious killings of Rickard and Brandon Stark were particularly revealing and thus drew the attention of the Seven Kingdoms.

Also, one should keep in mind that a big part of the pain also overflowed into the royal family and Aerys's court. His wife, Rhaella, was the target of extreme mistreatment; Aerys's successors, especially Rhaegar, were first kept in seclusion and later were even regarded as prone to violence.

The king's obsession with wildfire, a combustible material of mass devastation, only intensified as caches were hidden all around King's Landing.

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The fall: Robert's Rebellion and the last days of the Mad King

Aerys's fall was hastened by the civil war sparked by Robert's Rebellion, a war that was fueled by the king's own excesses and atrocities. As Prince Rhaegar allegedly kidnapped Lyanna Stark, the king's reaction was to torture and kill the Stark patriarch and his heir. The northern lords turned to rebellion. In the subsequent civil war, the king's old friend and former Hand, Tywin Lannister, played a double game, claiming support and then sacking the capital.

Professional historians commonly attribute the betrayal of Tywin and the arrival of the Lannister army as the real endgame for the rule of the Mad King. During his last hours, under the belief that all hope was gone, Aerys delivered the fateful command to "burn them all", having King's Landing and its million citizens, burned to the ground by wildfire.

This order was never fully carried out thanks to Ser Jaime Lannister, a member of the Kingsguard, who stabbed Aerys in the back and killed his pyromancer. This notorious deed, which earned Jaime the nickname "Kingslayer," preserved hundreds of thousands of innocents but ruined both men's reputations in the process.

The sacking of King's Landing and the slaying of Aerys marked a new era under King Robert Baratheon and cast the surviving Targaryens into exile. The trauma of these occurrences lingered for generations, framing much of the prequel's intrigue and violence that plays out in the prequel series and the original Game of Thrones series.

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Legacy: The shadow of the Mad King in Game of Thrones

Aerys's Targaryen legacy casts a long shadow in several ways across the Game of Thrones series.

Industry analysts and the series' observers have made frequent comparisons between father and daughter, particularly because Daenerys was at the same turning point of ultimate power and possible insanity. These similarities evoke very interesting inquiries about the issues of inherited trauma, shared memory, and the influence of mythmaking in politics.

In Game of Thrones, the shadow of the Mad King is eternal. Characters debate his decisions, worry that the Targaryens will again become a source of instability, and invoke the "burn them all" slogan as a dark omen.

Jaime Lannister's storyline is perpetually bound to the murder of Aerys, framing him both as a betrayer and unlikely hero. From a creative point of view, the tale of Aerys II serves as a template for the exploration of the danger of unchecked power and the horror of distrust.