Born in the year 201, Aegon V Targaryen, is the fourth son of King Maekar I Targaryen and Dyanna Dayne. He became the fifteenth king of the Targaryen dynasty, and was nicknamed Aegon the Improbable or Aegon the Happy because, being the fourth son of a fourth son, his position in the order of succession made his ascension to the throne extremely unlikely.
He was very popular with the small people, in whose favor he implemented several reforms, aiming to reduce the privileges of the lords. During his reign, he had to face several lordly revolts and a Feunoyr rebellion. This one ends brutally during the Tragedy of Lestival.
Married for love to Betha Nerbosc, they had five children: Duncan, Jaehaerys, Shaera, Daeron and Rhaelle.
He is familiarly called the Egg by his brother Aemon and later by his brother Daeron Targaryen, his sisters, and later still by his friend, Ser Duncan the Great.
From childhood, they are bold, loyal and lively. However, he had a tendency to lie, disobey and be insolent, even with adults.
Close to the people and anxious to protect them, he became their defender, from the time he sat on his father's small council, and even more so once he became king. A persistent rumor accused him of being "half peasant".
As a child, he looks rather thin and pale. He has light blond hair, characteristic of the Targaryens, which he takes the habit of shaving, which makes him look all the more like an egg.
This precaution comes in handy when he travels, to guarantee his anonymity. At the age of ten, he suddenly began to grow and was five feet tall. From childhood, he was considered a good swimmer.
As an adult, he was a tall, smiling man with large, deep purple eyes. During his reign, he wore the simple crown of Aegon III Targaryen.
Like all his brothers, Aegon is given a dragon's egg at birth, which is placed in his crib. His is a green and white egg, all spirals. Aegon hopes that the dragons will return and that his egg will one day hatch.
As a young boy, Aegon is the victim of the cruelty of his older brother, Aerion. Aerion comes to his room and threatens him with a knife that he puts between his legs. Aegon also accuses Aerion of having thrown his cat into a well. A strong enmity has developed between them over time.
Aegon is promised to his older sister Daella. His younger sister, Rhae, tries to put a love potion in his drink so that he will marry her, but he spits it out before swallowing.
Since his childhood, Aegon is familiar with most of the coats of arms of Westeros. An admirer of knights and tournaments, he is able to estimate the chances of competitors in jousts.
In King's Landing, he sometimes serves on the small council, where he hears the debates between his uncle, Baelor Targaryen, and Freuxsanglant. At this time, Aegon hoped to join the Kingsguard, to serve and defend the king.
On an unknown date, Aegon and his brother Aemon reenacted the battle of Herberouge Field on Maester Melaquin's table, with the soldiers and banners of each side. Aemon was the first to call his brother "the Egg," a nickname that was taken up by his siblings and later used as his alias during his travels.
In the year 209, a great tournament is organized in Cendregué. Maekar wants his sons to take part in it, secretly hoping that they will gain glory. Aegon must accompany his elder brother, Daeron, (called the drunkard) as a squire, but he does not like fighting. Taking Aegon with him, he manages to lose their escort and to hide to get drunk.
He shaves his brother's hair, because its color is too recognizable. The young Aegon, who dreams of being a real squire, is very unhappy. In a tavern, he meets a knight errant, Ser Duncan the Great, to whom he pretends to be a young orphan, using his nickname the Egg, in order to accompany him to Cendregué as a squire.
The child manages to impose himself on the knight, despite his reluctance. From then on, he takes care of the camp, the meals, the horses and the laundry.
Smart, Aegon refuses to go to the castle of Cendregué, where he risks to be recognized by his relatives. On the eve of the tournament, he enjoys the stalls and the puppet show, given by a group of Dornian artists.
He also demonstrates his broad knowledge by evaluating the value and chances of the knights present on the morning of the first day of the joust. They watch the first day of the joust together, which Aegon is very happy about, until his brother Aerion enters the fray.
The latter deliberately hits his opponent's horse on the neck with his spear during the charge. The animal collapses on its rider. This accident interrupts the joust.
On the evening of the first day of the joust, Aegon and Ser Duncan return to see the puppeteers from the previous day. They meet an acquaintance of Duncan's, Squire Raymun Fossovoie, who invites the knight to drink a cup of wine. Aegon remains alone to admire the show.
But his brother, Prince Aerion Targaryen, is also present and when a dragon puppet is shot by a wooden knight during the show, he accuses the balladeers of treason against House Targaryen, which has the dragon as its emblem.
As he and his men-at-arms manhandle the puppeteers, Aegon, in a panic, runs to find Ser Duncan. Duncan sets out to defend the little people, hitting Prince Aerion in the face.
But three of Aerion's men-at-arms soon neutralize him. As Aerion prepares to punish the knight, Aegon interrupts the hostilities by revealing his true identity.
Duncan is thrown into the dungeon for having laid hands on a member of the royal family. Aegon picks him up and brings him to his uncle, Baelor Brise-lance, who is also Hand of the King and heir to the Seven Crowns.
The latter informs the knight that Aerion demands his conviction for spilling royal blood. Meanwhile, Prince Maekar has returned to Cendregué with Daeron, and he is furious about the events that have shamed his sons, for Daeron had lied and claimed that his little brother had been kidnapped by a gigantic brigand.
Maekar demands that Duncan be tried and punished for these crimes. Thanks to Baelor Brise-lance, Ser Duncan requests a judicial duel, but Aerion, devious, demands that it take the form of a judgment of the Seven.
Aegon begs his father not to participate in the trial of the Seven, but his father is determined to clear his sons' name.
Later, he secretly leaves the castle with the complicity of Daeron, who is ashamed of his lie. They find Duncan in Steffon Fossovoie's tent as the knight errant despairs of finding companions to help him triumph.
The young boy insists on taking on the role of squire to his mentor. He loyally offers to go find other knights to rally to their cause. He managed to recruit Ser Robyn Rhysling and Lord Lyonel Baratheon. He serves as Ser Duncan's squire during the trial.
In the end, Ser Duncan emerges victorious from the trial of the Seven, but Maekar accidentally kills his brother in the fight. Baelor's death plunges the entire kingdom into mourning, and Maekar retires to Lestival, his main residence.
He offers Ser Duncan to enter his service as a knight and to keep Aegon as his squire, but the knight prefers to remain a knight errant. Maekar is at first reluctant to let his youngest son leave the comfort of a castle for the unsafe roads of the realm, but Duncan retorts that given what the comforts of a castle have done to Daeron and Aerion, a little discomfort on the roads will do the boy good. Maekar agrees, and Ser Duncan and the Egg set off for Dorne.
After climbing the Prince's Pass, Dunk and the Egg cross the high dunes of the Dornian desert to Le Voi. During the journey, the old horse that Aegon rides, Hazel, dies of thirst. Ser Duncan would like to take the time to bury him, but the Dornian knights refuse to wait, claiming that the desert and the sandhounds will take care of him.
Aegon enjoys the warmth of Dorne and begins to tan, his skin taking on the same color as the Dornians. When they arrive at Le Voi, Duncan is rude to Lady Le Voi, which triggers the lady's fury.
They then travel down the Green-Blooded River, where little girls playfully touch Aegon's shaved head for good luck, which infuriates and shames him. They eventually arrive in Bourg-Cabanes, where they embark on the White Lady bound for Villevieille.
They are attacked by pirates, whom Ser Duncan has great difficulty in repelling with his armor. When they arrive in Villevieille, they find Aegon's brother, Aemon, who takes the time to measure Duncan and give him a mule, which Aegon calls Maester.
It is during this trip to Dorne that Aegon puts on a straw hat with wide slouchy brim, which protects his still shaved head from the sun.
In the year 211, Ser Duncan the Great and Aegon have entered the service of Ser Eustace Osgris, sworn knight of Pieferme. They take the habit of sleeping on the roof terrace of the modest tower, to escape the heat. Aegon does not like the other knight in the service of Ser Eustace, Bennis au Bouclier Brun, a violent and vulgar man.
After a six-day absence to buy wine in Dosk, Aegon and Duncan discover that the river around Pieferme is dry. After investigation, it appears that the lady of the neighboring lordship, Lady Rohanne Tyssier de Froide-Douve, known as the Red Widow, has ordered her people to build a dam to divert the water: the drought threatens her crops and her farmers.
Carried away by anger, Ser Bennis spills the blood of one of the diggers: this is an outrage committed against a serf of Lady Tyssier in her own fief, and foreshadows reprisals by the Lady of Froide-Douve.
Ser Eustace decides to summon all the able-bodied men of his domain, in order to defend himself. Ser Duncan and his squire scour the three poor villages around Pieferme.
The Egg is indignant when he learns that he will have to help the commoners who come to Pieferme, but the knight makes him understand that even these people have their pride and that they could teach him things he doesn't know, if he takes the trouble to treat them with respect.
The Egg participates in the training of the eight recruits. It was his idea to give the three Wat's different names, so that they would be recognized. However, the shrewd child guesses that ser Eustace's plans are doomed to failure, their recruits being too inexperienced and too weakly armed. He suggests to his master that he use his "boot" to escape the carnage, but Ser Duncan stubbornly refuses.
The training of the recruits is catastrophic, and Ser Eustace decides to use diplomacy to coax Lady Tyssier. As he does not want to go to Froide-Douve himself, he sends Ser Duncan and the Egg on an embassy. Ser Eustace offers to pay blood money to repair Ser Bennis' outrage, on condition that the dam be torn down.
The Egg advises his master to be gallant and try to seduce the lady, even if she is old and ugly. Having listened to the local rumors, the squire thinks that Lady Tyssier is a witch and a poisoner, whom he imagines to be old and deformed. He warns Ser Duncan to beware of the food and drink she will offer them.
The knight wishes the Egg would not accompany him, but the Egg manages to manipulate Ser Eustace, convincing him that a knight on an embassy will be more credible if he is escorted by a squire. Duncan is forced to take him along, which upsets him, but delights the Egg greatly.
When they arrive at Froide-Douve, Ser Duncan and the Egg find that the river water diverted by the Tyssiers is used not only to irrigate their crops, but also to fill the famous moat from which the castle takes its name, which had dried up in the heat.
Before being received by Lady Tyssier, the Egg reiterates his warnings about drinking and refuses to touch it himself. He hardly restrains his insolent remarks when the septon Sefton describes the situation of the kingdom and King's Landing. He is surprised when he discovers that the Red Widow is young and about his height.
The lady refuses to allow blood to be paid for with money; she demands blood for blood. The Egg points out that the diverted water is more for the fluke than for crops. But the lady tells them that the water belongs to her: she has a title deed to prove it.
Not knowing how to read, the knight has his squire confirm the validity of the document. They learn that King Daeron has dispossessed Ser Eustace of the river for his participation in Daemon Feunoyr's rebellion against the Iron Throne.
Aegon is upset to learn that their host stood against his grandfather fifteen years earlier, and does not understand his choice. As the conversation progresses, the Egg repeats the strong opinions he has heard from his father or his father's friends. In particular, he thinks that bastards are untrustworthy because they were born outside the marriage bed, in sin.
Ser Duncan then reminds him that he himself might be a bastard, since he knows nothing about his mother and father, who might be a prostitute and a thief sent to the Wall, for all he knows. The idea that the knight he serves might be a bastard leaves Aegon silent, and seems to give him pause.
When he arrived in Piéferme, he questioned ser Eustace about his past allegiance. The latter admits that Daemon Feunoyr had promised him Froide-Douve, but he explains that he chose Daemon because he saw in him a true warrior and a better suitor.
But the tone eventually rises between the Egg and Ser Eustace, who reproaches Ser Duncan for not beating his squire and threatens to do it himself. The knight forbids it and warns him that they will leave Pieferme the next day. However, in the middle of the night, they are all awake: the Wat Wood on ser Eustace's land is burning.
In the morning, Ser Eustace accuses Lady Rohanne of having set fire to his wood, and prepares with Ser Bennis to retaliate. The Egg tries to convince his master that they must be stopped, but Ser Duncan replies that they are no longer in the service of Ser Eustace, and therefore no longer required to participate in his war.
The Egg then suggests that they go to Belle Isle: Lord Farman of Belcastel is battling the Ironborn, and he is probably looking for swords... Duncan agrees, but shortly before leaving, he discusses with Ser Bennis how they will defend themselves.
Ser Duncan can't help but criticize their suicidal plan, as the recruits hear him. He orders them to return home, despite Ser Bennis' threats and Ser Eustace's protests.
In the face of the old knight's despair at being doomed, Duncan decides to remain in his service a little longer. The Egg helps the knight and gives him the contents of his boot: a ring bearing the Maekar Targaryen crest. The knight intends to use it to prevent Lady Rohanne from attacking them.
From afar, the Egg witnesses the talks between Lady Rohanne Tyssier and Ser Duncan the Great, which ends in a legal duel. The knight orders the Egg to return to his father, Maekar, if he dies, to tell him everything that has happened.
He advises him to find a friend of his father's who will help him cross the country, a child alone being too likely to be attacked. He confronts the Red Widow's champion, Ser Lucas Milopin, in the middle of a river, the Shattered.
Ser Duncan triumphs, but nearly drowns during the duel. The Egg rushes to help him get to the surface. He helps to disarm him and climbs into the cart that takes his master to Froide-Douve: his wounds forbid him to return to Pieferme.
The Egg watches over the knight, fearing that his life is at stake. He is so suspicious that he demands that even the Maester taste the potions he claims to give Duncan.
Meanwhile, Ser Eustace Osgris and Lady Rohanne Tyssier have calmed their quarrel, and made up. They realized that a marriage between them would allow them to end the feud while serving their respective interests.
The Egg, as the only remaining member of Eustace's household (Ser Bennis fled while Duncan was fighting Lucas Milopin), owes it to himself as a courtesy to leave the knight for the wedding feast.
Ser Duncan decides to leave as soon as he can. The Egg warns Lady Rohanne of their departure and she pretends to give them new horses. While the Egg accepts his, Duncan refuses, preferring to take the lady's red hair braid. They then leave Ser Eustace's service and decide to make their way to the Wall.
The Egg names his new horse Rain, in memory of the torrential rains that fell when they left Froide-Douve. The squire buys a new straw hat and puts the old one on Mestre, his mule.
In the year 212, still on their way to the Wall, the Egg and Ser Duncan the Great cross the Conflans. They hear a hunchbacked septon preaching revolt against the Hand of the King, Lord Brynden Rivers. They stop at Pierremoûtier, where Ser Duncan buys a sailcloth tent for a silver stag.
As they leave Timberstone, they discover the head of the rebel septon on a spike. The Egg finds it fitting that he was punished for his treachery, while Duncan finds the punishment too severe.
Six days later, they meet a group of horsemen, consisting of the amiable knight Jehan le Ménétrier, Lord Alyn Chantecoq, Lord Gormon Peake and their retinue. They go to Murs-blancs, to celebrate the wedding of Lord Ambrose Beurpuits and to participate in the tournament that is organized there.
Lord Alyn is discourteous and Lord Gormon Peake suspicious, but Jehan the Menetrier offers to accompany them. Faced with Lord Peake's contempt and persistent suspicions, the knight errant prefers to decline, but decides to attend the wedding anyway, to enjoy the banquet and earn some money, either by renting his sword in the service of a nobleman, or by winning some jousts.
On the way, the Egg tells Ser Duncan that Lord Gormon Peake lost two of his family's ancestral castles a few years earlier, when he sided with Daemon Feunoyr in his rebellion.
Aegon also explains that Lord Beurpuits served for a time as Hand of the King to Daeron II Targaryen, but that he did not clearly take sides during the rebellion and that his two sons were on opposite sides.
Duncan and his squire must bivouac for a night with other knights errant, before arriving at White Walls. They meet Ser Kyle the Cat, Ser Glendon Flowers and Ser Maynard Prünh. They learn that the grand prize of the tournament will be a dragon's egg, given to Lord Beurpuits' grandfather by Aegon IV Targaryen.
When the conversation turns to the royal family, the Egg struggles to keep quiet, but Ser Duncan rebukes him to preserve his anonymity. In the course of the conversation, the Egg understands that Ser Glendon claims to be the son of Ser Quentyn Boule, nicknamed "Boulenfeu," one of Daemon Feunoyr's main supporters.
The next day, the Egg offers to use his "boot" to cross the lake before anyone else, but Ser Duncan refuses to use it for such a futile purpose. The Egg then points out that the two lords who passed before them, Lord Chauney and Lord Costayne, are also former rebels. Duncan doesn't want to hear about them, considering them ancient history, and he warns his squire against Ser Maynard Prünh, who makes him uncomfortable.
When he arrived at Murs-blancs, the Egg could not enter the great hall of the castle, reserved for nobles and knights, and had to stay outside with the grooms, soldiers and other squires. His master instructs him to be suspicious and to listen to what is being said, rather than be insolent.
The squire does not follow this wise advice: he gets into a fight with drunken squires who have called his father a fratricide. Later, he realizes that most of the coats of arms present belong to former rebel nobles, who followed Daemon Feunoyr.
He sets up the tent and consults a catalog of coats of arms to confirm his doubts, when Ser Duncan returns from the feast. He doesn't listen to his squire's remarks that this is a tournament of traitors, but understands that he has been fighting and arguing with him for not behaving. He orders him to go and enter him in the tournament
The next day, the Egg prepares Thunder and shares his fears with his master: the other competitors are almost all better than him, who has not fought a joust since the events of Cendregué. But the stubborn knight refuses to listen. The Egg advises him to beware of Ser Uthor Enverfeuille, but Ser Duncan doesn't care. But Ser Duncan doesn't care, and he's in trouble: Ser Uthor knocks him down with his first charge.
It takes Ser Duncan four hours to wake up from his blackout. When he recovers, he meets Ser Maynard Prünh, who half-warns him that the place is dangerous, especially for his squire.
When his master finds him, the Egg is looking after the horses, visibly affected by his master's fall. The child is delighted to see him again. He then offers to pay a ransom to Ser Uthor, so he doesn't have to leave Thunder, his weapons and his armor, but Ser Duncan is no fool: he knows that no one will lend him such a sum.
The Egg offers to take his master his own horse, Rain, while he rides their mule, Maester. Once back in Lestival, the Egg thinks he can convince his father to take Duncan into his service.
The knight's pride causes him to reject the offer, and Ser Duncan tells him that perhaps it is time to part ways. But the Egg refuses to hear of a suitable master-at-arms. He offers to use his "boot" again, but his master refuses again.
While Ser Duncan talks with Ser Uthor, the Egg quietly goes to the Master of White Walls to send a letter to his father. Carelessly, he shows him his "boot", which identifies him as Maekar Targaryen's son.
The Maester warns Lord Beurpuits and Lord Frey, who are panicked: the dragon's egg has been stolen. The Egg understands that he may be in trouble. He then remembers a saying of Freuxsanglant, which his father told him: "It is better to be frightened than to be frightened".
Solemnly, he claims that he has come on behalf of his father to spy, and that his father is on his way with an army. He threatens them with decapitation if they do not give up their treason. The two nobles are frightened: Lord Frey flees with his heir, while Lord Beurpuits takes refuge in the septuary with the Egg as a hostage and some faithful guards. He remains there praying to the Elder until the arrival of Ser Duncan as evening falls.
When Lord Beurpuits sees the knight, he tries to convince him that he has been unwillingly implicated by Gormon Peake and ser Tommard Heddle, his son-in-law. The latter interrupts them, accompanied by a dozen men-at-arms. As they are about to seize the Egg, Ser Duncan interferes and manages to kill Tommard Heddle.
Lord Beurpuits, panicked, chooses to flee from White Walls. Despite the child's reluctance, Duncan orders the Egg to follow him, but to defect as soon as possible, before he chooses to defect again.
He tells him to go to Viergétang, closer to King's Landing. He doesn't need to go that far: Freuxsanglant, warned of the plot, has gathered a powerful army that appears at dawn. The army takes them in and Freuxsanglant has the Egg dressed in princely finery, as befits someone of his rank.
The army obtains the swift surrender of the conspirators, ending the pitiful second Feunoyr rebellion. That evening, Ser Duncan is received by Freuxsanglant in his tent, where he finds the Egg.
The King's Hand condemns Lord Beurpuits before their eyes and dismisses Lord Frey. When Brynden Rivers questions Duncan about the Egg's presence in White Walls, Duncan awkwardly explains that they stumbled upon the conspiracy by accident.
Once again, the Egg is particularly insolent, claiming that they did not need anyone's help to get out of this situation and demanding that ser Glendon Boule be treated with respect, released, and rewarded for defeating the pretender in a duel.
Lord Rivers reproaches Ser Duncan for the squire's insolence, while telling him that the Egg has just revealed that he has the temperament of a dragon. When he expresses a wish to bring them back to King's Landing to keep them as guests, the Egg points out that his father will not appreciate it.
Freuxsanglant agrees, and leaves them free to go wherever they please. The Egg demands more gold to pay the ransom Duncan still owes to Ser Uthor Enverfeuille. Freuxsanglant agrees.
The Egg still wants to know who took the dragon egg. Freuxsanglant reveals half-heartedly that the dwarves who performed as balladeers at the feast may well have climbed up the latrine shaft.
The Egg and Ser Duncan the Great are said to have made their way to the North and joined the Stark's service. At an unknown date, the Egg was knighted by his master.
In the year 219, Aegon distinguished himself by his courage during the third Feunoyr rebellion, led by Haegon Feunoyr and Aigracier.
In the year 220, when he was twenty years old, he married Betha Nerbosc for love, without respecting the Targaryen custom of marriage between brothers and sisters. Together they have five children: three sons, Duncan, Jaehaerys and Daeron, and two daughters, Shaera and Rhaelle.
In the year 233, Prince Aegon took part in the capture of Stellepique where he adored Tywald Lannister and where his father was killed.
The death of Maekar I Targaryen creates a great confusion. A Great Council is then organized in the year 233, to decide between several candidates for his succession: Aegon's two older brothers (Daeron and Aerion) are dead, but they have left heirs, Aemon is a Maester at Lestival, Aegon is a knight.
To avoid a new war, the Hand of the King, Brynden Rivers organizes a Great Council. Daeron's daughter and Aerion's son are quickly dismissed. Some nobles, hating Aegon, would like to see Aemon become king, but he refuses, remaining faithful to his vows. Lord Gerold Lannister is one of Aegon's biggest supporters, as his son, Tion, had been the prince's squire.
Rumor has it that the prince's party is supported as much by Lord Gerold's eloquence as by his gold. The debates were cut short when Brynden Rivers brought the lords of Westeros the severed head of Aenys Feunoyr, one of Daemon Feunoyr's sons, who thought he too could claim the throne. Aegon is then promptly chosen as king.
