madness This is without a doubt one of the most distinctive features Targaryens. AT Storm of swords, Sir Barristan explains to Daenerys that, in the words of King Jaehaerys II, “madness and majesty are but two sides of the same coin.” For this reason, “every time a Targaryen was born, the gods tossed a coin into the air, and the whole world held its breath to see where it would land.” Another striking feature of the protagonist’s family Dragon House them incestuous behavior. Many Targaryen marriages were between brothers. In the third chapter of the series, there is even a moment when Otto Hightower suggests that King Viserys marry Rhaenyra to his younger brother Aegon. It is therefore unavoidable to think that both traits may be related.
Is it true that blood relations incest can increase the chance that they will spread Some diseases. But talking about madness as a disease is completely wrong. Mentioning her in a series of fantasy novels might make sense. But if we talk about mental illness in real life, the mere mention of insanity would be downright pejorative. Therefore, although we use the terms of George R. R. Martin, in order not to leave the world Song of Ice and Firewe must not forget that in reality it would be more about diseases characterized by such symptoms as hallucinations or psychotic features, among others. Not crazy.
However, would it make sense for these psychotic traits to spread from generation to generation due to Targaryen incest? To answer this question, we must start by looking at it. Family Tree.
Family tree of the House of the Dragon
incest between targaryens It begins directly with the founder of the family, Aegon I. And it consists in the fact that he married not one, but two of his sisters, Visenya and Reynis. Born from first marriage Mayor I and second Aenys I. The latter had several children, from whom another incestuous relationship arose, between Jaehaerys I and Alysanna. It’s the parents Viserys I, father of Rhaenyra in Dragon House.
Two grandsons of Rainier, Aemon IV and his sister NaerysThey also commit incest. And so, generation after generation, incest continues. Daenerys’ own parents, Aerys II and RaellaThey were brothers. As for insanity, Aerys was known in Westeros as mad king, but he was not the only one in the family who took that name. The books blame him Maegor I, Baelor I, Princes Rhaegal and Aerion Targaryen, and Prince Viserysbrother of Daenerys and son of the Mad King.
We have already seen that Maegor I was the son of two brothers. Baelor I was not the son of brothers, but of relatives, since his father, Aegon III, married a woman from the House of Velaryon, associated with the Targaryens. Neither Rhaegal nor Aerion were children of incest, although, of course, there were many in the family. Yes, it was Viserys, the Mad King’s son, who in turn was born from a relationship between two brothers: Jaehaerys II and Shaera Targaryen. Thus, we could find a definite connection between incest, consanguinity and the appearance of this madness. But will it make sense in real life?
Incest, inbreeding and insanity
intercourse between two people with a very close relationship. Not necessarily between brothers, but, for example, between uncles and nephews. As for cousins, whether or not this is considered incest depends on the culture.
But in any case, it is clear that there is excellent inbreeding. That is, mating between genetically similar individuals. Leaving aside fantasies about Dragon House, blood relationships are very common in royal families around the world. We don’t even have to go far; So if we go back a few generations between bourbonswe will eventually find marriages between very close relatives. Not brothers, but cousins. For this reason, certain diseases such as hemophilia are very common in this family type.
In general, the most common diseases in families with high inbreeding are recessiveboth autosomal and sex-linked inheritance. This is so because these are diseases in which they are needed. two copies of the affected gene variant for the disease to show up. If only the father or mother is a carrier, there will be no problems, but if both are carriers of the disease, without getting sick, they doom their children to high risk of getting. Besides, if both of you are sick, so are your children. When this happens between non-human animals, we are talking about loss of genetic diversity. This happens, for example, with an isolated group of white deer in New York. People have a problem with disease.
Could this have happened with some disease associated with so-called insanity? May be. Usually mental illness multifactorial. That is, they may have a high genetic component, but also ecological. The hereditary part is usually polygenic, is not associated with only one gene, so in some ways this may increase the likelihood in a high inbreeding situation, but many other factors will be at play. In any case, consanguinity buys many more votes in the transmission of genetic diseases. It is often said that variety is taste, although in this case it is not about taste, but about health. Physical and Mental Health. One thing is clear, that, at least based on what is described in the books, if they were not so much confused with each other, it could be Game of Thrones The ending would have been better.
Source: Hiper Textual
