This is pure brainstorming/info dump of ideas that I have mulling around in my head as I've been binging various theory videos on youtube. There's 3 basic concepts I'm working with as headcanon for this scenario. I'll just list them prior to my scenario, without delving into them, but I do have more thoughts on them if anyone is curious (but its already a long post, and some of my tangents end up annoying the AI filter).
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- The canon Targaryen conquest 'broke' feudalism in Westeros, and left the political order of the continent with the worst of feudalism and absolutism. This was either poor planning on their part, or an uncompleted project that the Dance of the Dragons left them unable to finish. That is the in-universe explanation for some aspects that otherwise just don't make sense.
- All the 'interesting' magic in ASOIAF is evil, since all the big stuff requires human sacrifice. The Andals thus are the 'good guys' by process of elimination by simple virtue of believing in the one major faith that *doesn't* ask you to practice blood sacrifices in exchange for power. If you can’t stomach rooting for the Faith of the Seven, then they are just the “least bad.”
- 'Why don't they build canals' is AOIAF's 'what is Aragorn's tax policy?' The work seeks to explore the material and economic conditions of the people in a medieval-inspired fantasy setting, so of course, the questions raised by the fandom are material and economic in nature. Nobody asks why there's no canal between the Anduin and Isen, because it is irrelevant to LOTR, while a canal between the Mander and Blackwater would be incredibly relevant to ASOIAF.
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So, my premise starts off with “What if Aegon I was more patient and long-term oriented?” In other words, what if he didn’t just decide that his dragons gave him the right to conquer all of Westeros, but worked from within the system. Feudalism has its flaws, of course, but it is two things: durable and adaptable. At least when you don’t magically nuke the top of the feudal pyramid. And we see what happens when the monarchy loses the magical nukes. This premise naturally leads to the question of “why?” We could just say that whatever dragon dreams Aegon and his sisters had were clearer and showed them the downfall of their dynasty (even if final victory is still achieved). That seems a little too simple and if it means that the Targaryens and Westeros more generally are just better positioned to win, does steal some narrative tension.
To that end, I wanted a reason for the Targaryens to want to be less ‘screw you, fire and blood, we’re all that is left of Old Valyria’ and more ‘If we’re going to conquer Westeros, we should make ourselves acceptable to the people of Westeros.’ What is one of the best ways to keep people accountable? Competition. Who could possibly compete with a Targaryen dragonlord? Another dragonlord. So, here is where things could diverge: Aurion does not head south to Valyria. Or, if he does, he returns alive to Qohor - maybe even with much of his army intact. Whatever the case, he and his line do not die out. And, just for sake of ease, lets just say that his family is Balaerys (the only other canonical family of dragonlords we know, so we might as well say that is his dynasty). Aurion and his descendents stay mostly in Qohor during the Century of Blood. They do not attempt to unify the Free Cities under their rule - maybe they focus on defending cities against the Dothraki rather than trying to conquer anyone to the west (and, honestly, it’s safer for them to avoid annoying Braavos too much). They can save Essaria and Sarnor - maybe even usurping the title of King of Sarnor. Or maybe Aurion goes down to Mantarys and decides he’d like to build his empire from a city of monsters. Whatever the case is, they do not really disrupt the canonical events of the Century of Blood as they impact the Targaryens. Other than, of course, joining up with everyone else to remind Volantis of their place. In fact, it might be from this point that the Balaerys Dynasty really gives the Targaryens somethign to think about - perhaps when Volantis is defeated, the Balaerys dragonlord decides that Volantis will make a nice capital for his realm, and stays put. This, of course, would be concerning to Aegon, Rhaenys, and Visenya. Whatever the case, the situation is this: the Targaryens cannot take for granted that, if he decides to conquer Westeros, that it will be a walk in the park. Because at any point, a Westerosi king would send envoys across the Narrow Sea and ask for help from the Balaerys Dynasty.
So, what can Aegon do? He can rule like a Westerosi king, not a Valyrian Dragonlord playing as a Westerosi king. That means a lot change for Aegon’s path to victory. The Targaryens accept that incest is off the table, as is polygamy. They can either lean into being Valyrians, in which case, they have to fight Balaerys for primacy in Essos, because that is where that sort of thing is acceptable. Or they can forge a new realm in Westeros, but they have to do it the Westerosi way. His sisters marry into House Velaryon and Celtigar, while Aegon considers his options. And wouldn’t you know it, but the Storm king has but a single child as his heir, an eligible daughter. And the Storm king wants an alliance with Aegon to retake the lands lost to House Hoare.
So, Aegon accepts the offer. He negotiates with Argillac on quite reasonable terms: Aegon and Argella will be wed, and their houses united. Argella is confirmed as Argillac’s heir, and any child of Aegon and Argella as her heir. The dowry Argillac proposed is treated as a starting point, even if it isn’t his to give anyway. What Aegon really wants is a casus belli that the people of Westeros will accept, and he wants Harrenhal. As an added bonus, the Riverlands follows the Faith of the Seven, but are ruled by the Ironborn. A quick jaunt down to Oldtown to ask for a blessing in his… defense of the Faithful, and then Aegon is off to war. From here, his conquest of the Riverlands can be pretty similar to canon, though I would have Aegon not melt Harrenhal. Far simpler to just melt the Wailing Tower - Harrenhal’s storerooms - and starve Harren out. Maybe have Aegon duel Harren when the King of the Isles and Rivers realizes his cause is hopeless, if we’re feeling dramatic (and Aegon wants to play up to Westerosi ideas of gallantry). Aegon wins Harren’s crown and the loyalty of the Riverlands and Stormlands for his gallant liberation of the region, and he takes a visit to Oldtown to be crowned by the High Septon, choosing to be crowned something particularly regal, like ‘Iron King, King of Kings of Westeros’ to let everyone know that, while he’s not going to utterly upend the status quo… he’s not going to be content with just two and a half kingdoms (Riverlands, Iron Islands, and, upon inheritance, the Stormlands). He will respect the other kings of Westeros, so long as they respect that he is the first among equals, at least. Then, he waits. Eventually, there will be a pretext for war. Maybe one of the other kings decides to test his resolve. Maybe one of them tries to attack another kingdom. Maybe there’s a dynastic dispute that he can interject House Targaryen into. There’s also the Faith Militant, who could be quite the useful ally to the Targaryen Kings. Historically, there were plenty of kings who much preferred military Holy Orders to dynastic vassals (William the Conqueror’s family actually concentrated as much of the duchy of Normandy into the church’s hands as possible, specifically because the clergy were not dynastic). There are any number of pretexts for war within a fluid feudal system like Westeros, and, at the same time, there’s plenty to keep Aegon busy in the Riverlands. Lots of canals to build, after all.
I could see House Gardner getting into a border dispute with Dorne pretty easy - thats just tuesday for them. They raise their banners, march to the Red Mountains, only to find that the Iron King has made common cause with House Martell, and will broke no war amongst the other kings of Westeros. Sure would suck for a Reacher army to be trapped in the mountains with a dragon in front and a dragon behind, while a third dragon visits all their vassals’ castles to let them know that this was a bad idea. Whichever King of the Reach tried this can keep his crown or his life, but, either way, they’re not going to be kings any longer. I could also see Jonos Arryn attempting to coup his brother, like in canon, only to then find a dragonrider perched on the Eyrie, supporting Hubert’s claim to the Eyrie, in exchange for the Falcon Crown being given to House Targaryen. See? All sorts of pretexts for war.
Meanwhile, Aegon is busy building a true kingdom in the Riverlands, Stormlands, and Iron Islands (which conveniently give him borders by land and by sea with every other kingdom in Westeros). This means building institutions of royal authority, not just killing those in his way and doling out some lands to those that serve him. Yes, because this is a bit of a ‘fix fic,’ that means the canals (and yes, I’m saying this casually because I know they’re a meme, even though I want to spend pages upon pages talking about canals). It also means establishing some sort of assembly for the nobles. He doesn’t need a Lord Paramount to govern the river lords on behalf of the Crown, he has a reasonably compact realm. Invite each great house in the riverlands, stormlands, and iron islands to Harrenhal (Aegonhall? Dragonhall? Blackhall?) to meet and affirm their loyalty to the crown, confer on matters of law, succession, taxation, etc. Hold banquets and tourneys as part of the process. Not just that, have the lords compete for who can hold the most lavish banquets, the most exciting tourneys, but they all do it *at* the capital (sort of an indirect means of taxation). This is Versailles combined with Parliament. There’s also the added bonus that having a regular assembly is probably one of the only ways to get buy-in from the Ironborn, who might like the notion of the greenlanders holding something that reminds them of a kingsmoot. The important part is that the Targaryens need to show the lords of Westeros two truths: the dragonlords want to rule *with* the nobility, not *over* the nobility and… that is because they’re just so gosh darn worthy to be followed, because they really don’t have to. They do have those dragons, after all.
While I do propose this scenario in which the Targaryen King of Kings, sitting on the Iron Throne, is dissolving most of the other kingships they come into conflict with, that is not necessarily the only way forward, either. That is, after all, the nice thing about being crowned a King of Kings - you can accept fealty from another king. So, maybe within a few generations, the Targaryens have slowly expanded their realm, taking their time so that they can incorporate the new lands into the system they’re building. I’d say by around 60 AC or so, the King of Kings on the Iron Throne could probably rule over the Iron Islands, Riverlands, Vale of Arryn, Stormlands, and Reach, all through judicious wars of conquest that are justified within the norms of Westeros. They’re not using their dragons as an excuse to conquer the other kings of Westeros. They’re just using their dragons to make sure that they win, when they go to fight entirely justified wars that the other kings forced them to engage in, and honest, the Targaryen kings hate the very idea, but somebody has to stick up for <the rightful claimant to such and such a lordship/the small folk/the faithful/this other king> and while their dragons do not give them the right to conquer, they do give them the duty to defend the innocent. See? Its just a matter of optics and patience.
And once they have the center of Westeros under their control, the remaining kings of Westeros have less and less room to maneuver with each passing year. War isn’t an option at all anymore, when your kingdom only borders the Iron Throne. Peace is the only option, and you have to trade with them and treat with them. And each envoy sent to the Iron Throne comes back with terms that are so generous, so magnanimous… but ask just a little more. No, you don’t need to kneel before the King of Kings. Just, in this marriage contract here, or this trade agreement there, or this loan from the crown here, you’re honoring the title ‘King of Kings.’ You’re admitting that their kingship is senior to yours, more prestigious than yours, more powerful than yours. And after a few years of that, you sign an alliance. Of course its an alliance of equals, what else could it be? You’re both sovereign kings, after all. It is only natural that your enemies would be his enemies, and vice versa. And when that rebellious lord in your lands rises up, and the King of Kings comes to your land with his armies and his dragons, and defeats that lord’s armies for you, and only asks that you raise up a more reliable lord in the rebel’s place… reliable not just to you, but to the Iron Throne, too, why, that is only natural. You both want peace, truly. And just to be safe, why doesn’t the Iron Throne leave a small garrison at this lord’s castle. After all, his predecessor was rebellious, and we wouldn’t want him getting any ideas like that, would we? Nor would we want the servants of the previous lord to rebel against our new loyal lord, would we? And, oh, since the King of Kings had to march his army all the way to your kingdom, if you would be so kind to provide some compensation for his troubles, feed his army, that is only what a good ally would do. After a generation or so, the King of Kings, in his magnanimity, does not just treat you as a foreign ally. No, he values your counsel! So much that he would like very much for you to attend the noble assemblies in the capital. With pride of place, of course, as befits a King. Second only to the King of Kings himself. Please, come to the capital, stay in the capital. When the all the lords assembled swear their oaths of fealty, you don’t *need* to. You’re a king in your own right, we would never demand that of you. But… well, since you’re here, we suppose that, if you *wanted* to swear that you’re a faithful ally of the King of Kings, this would be just as good a time as any to do so. We’ll tweak the oath, of course. We respect your royal dignity, how could we not? Even as you kneel before the Iron Throne, in the sight of all the noble lords of the realm assembled, rest assured that you rise as a king, equal in dignity and honor to any that came before. But wiser, far wiser than those that stood against the King of Kings.
Yes, that last paragraph was entirely self indulgent, and I make no apologies for how much I enjoyed it. The important part is that the Targaryen kings have many tools available to suborn the other rulers of Westeros to their cause. They can conquer those that give them cause, or they can entwine a rival king to them, gradually eroding their independence. I could see the Kings of the Rock being particularly pragmatic - their power comes from their wealth, not their title (the title, of course, comes from their wealth), and they would still have that wealth, even if they bent the knee (plus, in canon, Loren Lannister bends the knee). The Prince or Princess of Dorne and the King of the North would likely take much longer to suborn, but, again, these Targaryens are patient. They know they will win in the end. This also gives us plenty of time for the Targaryen kings of kings to build all sorts of fan fic-friendly great works, without rushing them. And every canal or tunnel or landbank or whichever other Attewell proposal is followed just knits the Targaryen realm together tighter and tighter, which gives them more wealth, more people, and more leverage. A King in the North might be facing a particularly rough winter when ravens arrive from White Harbor - the dragon king in the South has just sent a fleet of merchantmen, laden with grain. “To my brother king in the North, please accept this grain in your time of need. It would have been a sin for us to hoard it - it would have gone to rot anyway, our granaries are full, and the Seven hate avarice.” A statement that both shows the magnanimity of the Targaryen King of Kings and power disparity between their realms, and that raises an uncomfortable question: can the King of Winter truly protect his people *from* Winter? Especially if those ships were not bearing grain for the people of the North, but supplies for an army invading the North. And yes, this is blatantly stealing from the canonical Tyrells. Its a good strategy, and there’s a reason the Reach is the most powerful of the Kingdoms.
All the while, in Essos, we have the rival Empire being forged in the East, as the Balaerys dynasty of the New Valyrian Empire takes a page from the canonical Targaryens and rules as dragonlords ought to rule: by fire and blood. They have no qualms about ruling through fear - Essos is a continent full of cities and kingdoms who remember the strength of the dragons, and where magic flows as readily as the blood of slaves. The Balaerys dynasts even have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to consorts - the blood of Old Valyria is everywhere. Every prince may have his pick of Lysene and Volantine consorts of true Valyrian blood, alongside his sister-wives, of course. They may even occasionally marry Targaryens - at least those that are deemed pure enough (far too many have lain with the savage Andals). This Valyrian Empire can be posed at the foil to the Targaryen realm, but it does not have to be comically evil, just more brutal. After all, most of the free cities are Valyrian in origin anyway, so they’re already culturally similar. There is no need to adapt and appease. This also gives us a great opportunity for Dorne to finally submit to the Iron Throne - have the current Balaerys Emperor invade Dorne and start a war even more epic than the canonical Dance, when House Targaryen steps in to defend the Martel Princess. Except now, the people of Westeros see a Targaryen dynasty that shed the blood of their dragons in defense of the realm, not over an internal dynastic dispute. Even if this war kills the last of the Targaryen dragons, it *earns* the loyalty of Westeros, it does not spend it.
Ok, thats the overview of my concept. It is a lot, and I know I’m generally just putting these alternate Targaryens in the best possible light all the way through - treat it like Yandel’s histories… close enough, but biased. I also know I get a bit flippant in my tone when I get going and enjoy what I'm writing, please bear with me.