Assassination of Jaehaerys Targaryen

Assassination of Jaehaerys Targaryen
Part of the Dance of the Dragons
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Concurrent	Blockade of the Gullet
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Event information
Date	132 AC
Place	Red Keep, King's Landing
Outcome	Death of Jaehaerys Targaryen
Factions
House Targaryen/Blacks
House Targaryen/Greens
Leaders
Prince Daemon Targaryen
Participants
Blood Cheese
Queen Helaena Targaryen
Casualties
Jaehaerys Targaryen

The assassination of Jaehaerys Targaryen, first-born son and heir to King Aegon II Targaryen, occurred in 132 AC at the start of the Dance of the Dragons. The act was carried out by hired assassins, Blood and Cheese, under the orders of Daemon Targaryen as retribution for the death of Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen's second son, Lucerys Velaryon.

History

Prelude

At the start of the Dance of the Dragons, Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen sent her son Prince Lucerys to Storm's End to gain the backing of Lord Borros Baratheon. However, Prince Aemond Targaryen had already arrived at Storm's End to secure a marriage alliance with House Baratheon. Aemond, whose left eye had been previously maimed by Lucerys in a childhood fight, demanded Lucerys cut out his eye, but Borros forbade the two princes from fighting in his hall. As Lucerys fled on his dragon Arrax, Aemond pursued him on Vhagar. The two dragonriders lost control of their dragons, however, as they attacked each other, culminating in Vhagar killing Arrax, and Lucerys with him.

After gathering the remains of her son and his dragon in the Stormlands, Rhaenyra returned to Dragonstone and declared her desire for Aemond's death. Daemon, having already plotted to kill Aemond and Vhagar with Rhaenys’s help only to be rebuffed, decided to secretly smuggle himself into King's Landing. There, he bribed a Gold Cloak supporter of his, Blood, to enter the city. The two then met with Cheese, a ratcatcher in the Red Keep provided to Daemon by Mysaria. Daemon recruited Cheese to lead Blood into the Red Keep to slay Aemond, but ordered them to kill "a son for a son" if they should not find him.

The assassination

Cheese led Blood through Maegor's secret tunnels in the Red Keep. He stopped once they made their way through a significant portion of the castle, as Cheese was afraid to go to the royals' floor. Blood, however, threatened to kill him and take his portion of the reward for himself if he did not proceed.

The duo then reached the royal apartments via a room through a secret door. Once there, Blood suggested they set a trap. While Cheese investigated elsewhere, Blood went alone to Aemond's chambers, where he encountered a servant. Blood played off the servant’s suspicions by claiming he was a rat-catcher, but was alarmed when she disappeared shortly after. Fearing the guards will soon be alerted, he searched for Cheese, where he found him holding Queen Helaena Targaryen hostage. The two realized they were in her chambers, where her children, Prince Jaehaerys and Princess Jaehaera Targaryen, were sleeping.

Helaena offered her necklace as a bribe to spare her children; Blood took the necklace, but still demanded that a son must die. Unable to tell which of the children was Jaehaerys, they two forced Helaena to point him out. When she reluctantly did so, Cheese released her as Blood placed his hand over Jaehaerys's mouth and murdered him. Together with Cheese, the two proceeded to remove Jaehaerys’s head, as Daemon promised to pay them the remainder of their bribe only if he received the son's head.

Helaena, horrified at what was happening to her son, flees the room with Jaehaera to the safety of her mother's chambers, where she happens upon Queen Alicent making love to Ser Criston Cole. Helaena, traumatized, falls to the floor with her daughter, muttering to Alicent that her boy was dead.

Aftermath

Once Blood and Cheese removed Jaehaerys's head, the duo discretely fled the Red Keep undetected into King's Landing. While Cheese remained in the city presumably incognito, Blood decided to flee King's Landing with the Prince's head in tow to escape the impending justice for his crime and collect his payment from Daemon. Meanwhile, back in the Red Keep, the Green royal family and Council are informed of the tragedy. The Kingsguard and the Red Keep garrison begin sweeping the castle for the assailants, whilst rounding up the castle's staff for interrogation. Simultaneously, the City Watch was also placed on high alert, ordered to seal the city and begin searching for the assassins as well.

Shortly after, an emergency Green Council meeting was called to determine how the incident had occurred. Aegon, furious at the council's complacency during the incident and supposed ignorance of Jaehaerys's murderer, angrily declares that Rhaenyra is to blame. At that time, Lord Larys Strong arrives, informing the council that Blood had been detained at the Gate of the Gods, is a Gold Cloak, and possessed the Prince's head in a sack. Aegon immediately declares his intent to execute Blood himself, but Lord Jasper Wylde urges restraint, suggesting instead to interrogate him first to ascertain who ordered Jaehaerys's murder and anyone else involved. Otto adds that the incident, as horrendous as it is, may serve to help the Greens' cause. He proceeds to suggest not only sending out ravens to noble houses across the realm, implicating Rhaenyra in Jaehaerys's death, but also holding a funeral for the late Prince to gain the sympathy of the smallfolk in King's Landing. Aegon initially rejects his grandfather's suggestion, refusing to turn his son's death into a spectacle. His mother, Alicent, eventually convinces him, however, that this is the right course of action, with Aegon approving the funeral so long as he himself does not have to participate in it.

Jaehaerys's head is recovered and reattached to his body by the Silent Sisters as they prepare his body for his funeral. On the day of the funeral, the procession departs the Red Keep for the Dragonpit, followed behind by Jaehaerys's mother and grandmother, Helaena and Alicent. At the same time, an announcer following the procession declares to the assembled masses that Rhaneyra was responsible for Jaehaerys's death. As Otto intended, the funeral procession gains the sympathy of the smallfolk of the capital, who shower the Queen and Dowager Queen with condolences as they make their way through King's Landing. Concurrently, Larys arrives at Blood's cell to begin his interrogation. Blood hastily confesses that Daemon had hired him and Cheese to do the deed but admits he does not know Cheese's identity, only that he was a ratcatcher. Shortly after, Aegon arrives in Blood's cell and proceeds to execute him with a mace.

Upon learning the information Blood provided, Aegon orders for all the ratcatchers in the employ of the Red Keep to be summarily executed and their bodies hanged from the castle's ramparts, Cheese amongst them. The smallfolk and the ratcatchers' respective families are horrified at the sight of this brutal act, mourning for the loss of their sons, brothers, and husbands. When Otto learns of this, he confronts Aegon, lambasting him that his actions have canceled all the sympathy the Greens gained from Jaehaerys's funeral, replaced now by the scorn and hatred of the ratcatchers' families and countless others. Aegon retorts he intends to act militarily, not diplomatically, mentioning Criston's plan of sending Ser Arryk Cargyll to Dragonstone on a mission to assassinate Rhaenyra. Exasperated at this ill-conceived mission, Otto insults Aegon, reminding him of his father's virtues and his callous disregard for them. He proceeds to admit that Viserys never intended for Aegon to be king and proceeds to leave. Aegon promptly dismisses Otto as Hand for this statement, appointing Ser Criston as his replacement.

When news of Jaehaerys's death and his funeral reaches Dragonstone, Rhaenyra is informed by Maester Gerardys that she is being blamed for it and that ravens with that message have been sent throughout the realm. Rhaenyra is horrified and orders for ravens of their own to be sent out denying the allegations, but Gerardys admits these messages may not be received in good faith. Lord Bartimos Celtigar adds that the Blacks position has been immeasurably damaged, with Ser Alfred Broome going so far as to state that Rhaenya, in her grief over Lucerys's death, may have acted in haste, a suggestion she adamantly refutes. After the meeting of the Black Council, Rhaenyra confronts Daemon over Jaehaerys's assassination. He admits his responsibililty in the act, leading to a heated argument over his loyalty to her and her subsequent loss of trust in him.

The assassination of Jaehaerys Targaryen proved to be a major diplomatic blunder for the Blacks, with the fallout of the act reverberating across the Seven Kingdoms. At a time in the Dance where the Blacks were still at a disadvantage to the Greens in terms of support, it is implied from Lord Bartimos statement that the Blacks reputation and legitimacy were heavily damaged. Furthermore, Jaehaerys's death served as being the point of no return for a potential peaceful resolution to the Dance, as Otto Hightower's replacement as Hand with Criston Cole ensured that the Greens would match the Blacks stance on a military resolution to the conflict.

In the books

In Fire & Blood, the murder of Prince Jaehaerys by Blood and Cheese is described somewhat differently. Daemon hired the two to kill one of Aegon II's sons, but did not personally meet them, but via a middleperson.

In the books, Aegon II and Helaena already had two sons by this point in the story, Jaehaerys and Maelor Targaryen, along with their daughter Jaehaera. Helaena returned to her chambers to find her mother gagged and her three children held hostage by Blood and Cheese. The two forced her to choose a son to sacrifice, and she reluctantly chose the younger Maelor. However, they only mocked Maelor before killing Jaehaerys anyway, and fled with his head while leaving the rest unharmed. As a result, Helaena fell into a deep depression and madness.

Two days later, Blood was caught. Under torture, he gave up a description of the middleperson who hired them, which matched Mysaria (but did not mention Daemon's name), and died after thirteen days of torment. No trace of Cheese or Mysaria was ever found. At Aegon II's command, all the ratcatchers in the city were hanged.

External links

• Blood and Cheese on A Wiki of Ice and Fire