If you’ve spent any time in the world of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire or sat through eight seasons of Game of Thrones, you know the name Targaryen carries a heavy, almost suffocating weight. But when people ask who are Daenerys parents, they usually aren't just looking for a couple of names to check off a genealogy chart. They’re looking for the reason she ended up in exile, the source of her "madness," and the explanation for why her family tree looks more like a vertical line than a sprawling oak.
Daenerys Stormborn was born into a dynasty that was already screaming toward its own demise. Her father was a man who preferred the smell of burning flesh to the business of ruling, and her mother was a woman trapped in a cycle of duty and tragedy.
The Mad King: Aerys II Targaryen
The most direct answer to who are Daenerys parents starts with Aerys II Targaryen. You probably know him better as the Mad King. Honestly, he wasn't always a monster. Early in his reign, Aerys was charming, ambitious, and quite popular. He had big plans for a new Wall, grand canals in Dorne, and a city of marble. But the gods, as they say, flipped a coin.
The turning point was the Defiance of Duskendale. Aerys was kidnapped and held captive for months, and when he finally got out, thanks to Barristan Selmy, he was a broken, paranoid shell of a man. He stopped cutting his hair. His fingernails grew into yellowed talons. He developed an obsession with wildfire that eventually defined his legacy.
By the time Daenerys was conceived, Aerys was a nightmare. He didn’t trust his son, Rhaegar. He didn't trust his Hand, Tywin Lannister. He barely even trusted the ground he walked on. His relationship with his wife—who was also his sister—became increasingly abusive and horrific. This is the dark shadow Daenerys grew up under, even though she never actually met the man. She was the "Princess of Dragonstone" only because her father had turned the rest of the world against their house.
Rhaella Targaryen: The Forgotten Mother
We talk a lot about the Mad King, but Rhaella Targaryen is often the missing piece when discussing who are Daenerys parents. Her life was, quite frankly, miserable. She was forced to marry her brother Aerys because their grandfather, Aegon V, heard a prophecy from a woods witch that the "Prince That Was Promised" would come from their line.
Rhaella suffered through countless miscarriages, stillbirths, and infant deaths. Before Daenerys and Viserys, there was a long line of lost children: Shaena, Daeron, Aegon, Jaehaerys. Every time a child died, Aerys’s paranoia spiked. He blamed Rhaella’s "infidelity," he blamed her wet nurses, he blamed the gods.
When Robert’s Rebellion reached its bloody peak and the Sack of King's Landing was imminent, a pregnant Rhaella was sent away to Dragonstone with her son Viserys. It was there, during the most violent storm in the history of the Narrow Sea, that she gave birth to Daenerys. The effort killed her. She died in the same room she was likely born in, leaving her newborn daughter and a young, terrified Viserys to flee into the night.
The Incest Problem and the Targaryen Lineage
It’s impossible to talk about the parentage of any Targaryen without addressing the elephant in the room. Inbreeding.
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To keep the "blood of the dragon" pure, the Targaryens married brother to sister for centuries. This isn't just a weird quirk of the lore; it’s the central biological conflict of Daenerys’s life. Aerys and Rhaella were siblings. Their parents, Jaehaerys II and Shaera, were siblings. This means Daenerys has significantly less genetic diversity than a normal human being.
This lineage is why people constantly watched her for signs of the "Targaryen madness." When she burned the Khals or eventually—depending on which version of the story you follow—leveled King's Landing, the world saw Aerys II looking back at them. Her parents gave her the dragons, sure, but they also gave her a volatile psychological inheritance that she spent her whole life trying to outrun.
Why the "Secret Parentage" Theories Exist
For a long time, fans weren't satisfied with the Aerys and Rhaella answer. There are dozens of theories suggesting Daenerys might be the daughter of someone else. You’ll hear names like Ashara Dayne or even Rhaegar himself (making her Jon Snow's sister rather than his aunt).
Why do these theories exist? Mostly because of the "lemon tree."
In the books, Daenerys remembers a house with a red door and a lemon tree in Braavos. But Braavos is a cold, foggy city where citrus trees shouldn't grow. This small inconsistency led readers to believe her childhood wasn't what Viserys told her it was. Maybe she wasn't on Dragonstone. Maybe she isn't who she thinks she is.
However, looking at the text and the shows, these are largely just fun rabbit holes. The thematic weight of the story relies on her being the daughter of the Mad King. Her entire arc is about overcoming the sins of her father. If she were actually the daughter of a "good" guy like Ned Stark or a "noble" guy like Rhaegar, the internal struggle of her identity loses its teeth.
The Legacy of the Storm
Daenerys never knew her parents. She knew a ghost and a nightmare. Viserys told her stories of a father who was a great king and a mother who was a saint, but the reality was far messier.
Aerys was a tyrant. Rhaella was a victim.
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Daenerys spent her career in Essos trying to be the "Breaker of Chains," a direct contrast to the man her father became. She wanted to be the queen her mother never got to be. But the tragedy of the Targaryens is that you can't choose your blood. You can only choose what you do with it.
What to do with this information
If you're digging into the lore or writing your own analysis, keep these points in focus:
- Audit the Timeline: Remember that Daenerys was born roughly nine months after the Flight to Dragonstone. Any theory about her parentage has to account for Rhaella’s documented pregnancy during the end of the rebellion.
- Contrast the Siblings: Compare how Viserys and Daenerys handled their father's legacy. Viserys embraced the entitlement; Daenerys initially feared the madness. This duality is the core of the Targaryen family dynamic.
- Fact-Check the "Madness": Research the Defiance of Duskendale to understand why Aerys snapped. It wasn't just "bad genes"—it was severe trauma layered on top of a predisposition for instability.
- Observe the Visuals: Notice how the show uses costume and lighting to link Daenerys to Aerys (specifically the use of black and red and the focus on fire) as she gets closer to the Iron Throne.
Knowing who are Daenerys parents isn't just a bit of trivia. It is the fundamental blueprint for her rise and her eventual, catastrophic fall. The "blood of the dragon" is a gift of power, but as history shows, it usually ends in ash.