Vaegon, formerly known as Prince Vaegon Targaryen, alternatively referred to as Vaegon the Dragonless, was the seventhborn child of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen and Queen Alysanne Targaryen. He later became an archmaester of the Citadel.
Appearance and Character[]
Vaegon had the silver-blonde hair and lilac eyes of House Targaryen, but could never be described as comely. He had rounded shoulders and a long face. He always had a pinched, sour cast to his mouth.
Vaegon was never robust. People considered him to be sour. He was not cowardly, but took no joy from the play of squires or pages. He was a miserable fighter, and not well-trained when it came to arms. He was a bookish boy, and much preferred the library. Books were described to be his only passion.
Vaegon was quiet and wary as a boy, and was not well-liked, something which never changed. When he had to speak, he was often blunt, though never intentionally cruel. He would always dutifully perform perfunctory courtesies, but never more.
Near the age of forty, Vaegon had become pale and frail. He was devoted to the study of alchemy, astrology, mathematics, and other arcane arts.
History[]
Early Life[]
Vaegon was born in 63 AC, as the fourth son and seventh child of King Jaehaerys I and Queen Alysanne Targaryen.
The king and queen assumed that one day, Vaegon would marry his sister, Daella, who was just one year younger than him. At the age of five, Jaehaerys told Vaegon to be kind to Daella, for she would one day "be his Alysanne". In truth, the two children did not like each other. Vaegon would tolerate Daella's presence, but no more, and considered her to be stupid, whilst Daella was scared of Vaegon, and considered him mean. Although Jaehaerys believed that the two would come to like each other, their dislike only increased.
In 73 AC, one of Queen Alysanne's companions asked Vaegon and Daella when they would be wed. Vaegon suggested that Daella would need to find a husband who wanted stupid children, for they would be the only kind Daella would birth, which was a grave insult. After Daella fled the hall in tears, their older sister, Alyssa, emptied a flagon of wine over his head, which did not impress him. Instead, he simply told his sister that she had wasted Arbor gold, before going to change his clothes.
Following this incident, Jaehaerys and Alysanne agreed that they would need to find new spouses for the two children. Vaegon's other sisters, Saera and Viserra, were briefly considered. Jaehaerys decided that Vaegon could do with spending less time in the library, and asked his elder son, Baelon, to train him at arms. Baelon trained Vaegon for a year, during which time both were miserable. One day, Baelon brought their sister, Alyssa, dressed in mail, onto the yard as a challenger for Vaegon. Remembering the incident with the Arbor gold, Alyssa laughed as she humiliated Vaegon. When he could take no more, Vaegon threw down his sword and never entered the yard again.
As Vaegon grew older, he started to earn more attention from the younger girls at court, but it grew clear that he was not interested in finding a bride. Once, Grand Maester Elysar gave Vaegon a book of erotica, hoping that images of "naked maidens" might awake something in Vaegon. Though he kept the book, no change in his mood was ever noted.
The Citadel[]
On Vaegon's fifteenth name day in 78 AC, Jaehaerys and Alysanne asked Elysar if Vaegon might have the attributes to become a maester. Though Elysar gave them a firm no, he did suggest that Vaegon may be suited to being an archmaester. As such, three days later, Prince Vaegon was summoned to his father's solar, where he was informed that he was to be taken by ship to Oldtown. Though Vaegon responded curtly to his father, Jaehaerys later told Alysanne that he was certain Vaegon had almost smiled.
At the Citadel of Oldtown, Vaegon would become an archmaester, holding the ring and rod and mask of yellow gold. Although he would write to his parents on occassion, his words were always dutiful, and there was no warmth to his letters. By the end of Jaehaerys' reign, Vaegon's existence had been forgotten by most of the Seven Kingdoms. After the death of Prince Baelon, Jaehaerys summoned Vaegon back to King's Landing. Some suggest that Jaehaerys wished to offer Baelon the throne (though Vaegon refused), whilst others believe that he just desired Vaegon's counsel. It was Vaegon who eventually suggested that Jaehaerys hold a great council to decide the matter of succession.
No further mention of Vaegon is made after the Great Council of 101 AC, as he seemed to return to his life of obscurity. It is unknown if Vaegon was still alive by the time of the Dance of the Dragons, though it is not implausible, as he would have been only 66 at the start of the war. The first volume of Archmaester Gyldayn's volume of Fire and Blood stops in 136 AC, at the end of the regency for King Aegon III, at which time Vaegon would have been 73. It is possible that Vaegon's ultimate fate is detailed in the second volume of Gyldayn's history.