Every Targaryen Who Could Appear in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Ranked From Long Shot to Must-See

HBO is going back to Westeros again, but this time it is not dragons and dynastic collapse. 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' adapts George R.R. Martin's 'The Hedge Knight' — the first Dunk and Egg novella — and plants us between the chaos of 'House of the Dragon' and the political knife fight of 'Game of Thrones.' No dragons in the skies, not yet the wars you know by heart. Just a realm still ruled by Targaryens, where knighthood means something, prophecies still ruin lives, and a bald kid named Egg changes history by accident. It premieres January 18, 2026 on HBO.

Where this fits

If you are mapping it out: long after the last dragons died, long before Robert starts swinging a warhammer. The Targaryens are still running the place — silver hair, messy bloodlines, and all — and this corner of the story follows Ser Duncan the Tall, a decent hedge knight, and his not-so-ordinary squire, Aegon 'Egg' Targaryen.

The Targaryen roll call (who they are, why they matter, and who is playing them)

• Aerion Targaryen, aka Brightflame

  Poster child for bad ideas. Aerion is the second son of King Maekar I and the brother closest in age to Egg. He spent childhood tormenting Egg — think: killing his cat, threatening him — and graduated to full-blown cruelty as an adult. He once forced a man to drink wildfire. Eventually, he tried it himself because he genuinely believed it would transform him into a dragon. You can guess how that ended. In 'The Hedge Knight,' Aerion's arrogance and violence put him on a collision course with Ser Duncan, which becomes a defining clash of the story. Finn Bennett (True Detective: Night Country) plays him, which is spot-on casting for someone who thinks immolation is a growth strategy.

• Brynden Rivers, aka Bloodraven

  Albino, razor-sharp, and terrifyingly effective. Bloodraven is the bastard son of King Aegon IV and Melissa Blackwood, born with milk-white skin and a red birthmark like a raven splashed across his face. He rises to Hand of the King, runs a spy network that keeps Westeros in line, and dabbles in the kind of sorcery that makes everyone uncomfortable. Exiled to the Night's Watch, he eventually ends up beyond the Wall and merges with a weirwood, becoming the Three-Eyed Raven. Fans saw the older version of him mentoring Bran in 'Game of Thrones' (played there by Struan Rodger). A younger, very-much-alive Bloodraven could show up here — not yet cast — which would let us see how palace politics end with you literally fused to a tree.

• Prince Aerys I

  Proof that indifference can be just as dangerous as fury. Aerys I is a book-first, people-second ruler whose obsession with prophecies and dusty tomes leaves the realm drifting. He is less likely to show up in the flesh and more likely to be name-dropped, seen in flashback, or remembered by older knights. If he had his way, he would have traded the Iron Throne for a private library and never looked back.

• Valarr Targaryen

  Oldest son of Prince Baelor. Talented, proud, and a little too aware of his own bloodline. He hates that opponents do not fight him straight in tournaments because, well, politics. Lean, long brown hair streaked with silver, and saddled with the court nickname 'The Young Prince' — which of course saddled his brother Matarys with 'The Even Younger Prince.' Under the polish is a life that knocked him around. He and his wife, Lady Jena Dondarrion, lost three infants, and the grief leaves a mark. He ends up resenting Egg and Ser Duncan after events that tarnish his father's honor. Not a villain, just a man who never gets the fight he actually wanted. Oscar Morgan plays him.

• Daeron Targaryen, the Drunken

  Maekar I's eldest son. He is haunted by 'dragon dreams' — those nasty prophetic visions that pop up in Targaryen blood and never arrive with instructions. He drinks to dull them. In 'The Hedge Knight,' Daeron sneaks away from a tourney and drags his little brother Aegon along, a cowardly detour that accidentally kickstarts the Dunk and Egg saga. Henry Ashton takes the role, and if he nails the quiet panic under the booze, this one will hurt in the right way.

• King Maekar I Targaryen

  The fourth son of King Daeron II who ended up the fourteenth king because fate ran out of older brothers and cousins. Maekar is a commander first and a politician never; he believes discipline keeps the peace better than charm. Not the open cruelty of Aerion, but definitely not warm. He did not ask for the mess — he just inherited it and tried to muscle it into order. Sam Spruell plays him, which tracks: sharp, coiled, and dangerous without raising his voice.

• King Daeron II Targaryen, the Good

  Annoyingly reasonable by family standards. Daeron II stitched Dorne into the realm without a war, then spent years cleaning up the disaster left by his father, King Aegon IV. When his half-brother Daemon Blackfyre rebelled, Daeron II won, and his mercy after the fighting caused almost as many headaches as the war itself. If he appears here, expect quiet authority and a man who prefers ink to flames.

• Aemon Targaryen

  The rare Targaryen who looked at a crown and said 'No, thanks.' Son of Maekar I and the same Aemon who later becomes the gentle, blind Maester Aemon you met on the Wall in 'Game of Thrones.' In this era, he is a young man choosing duty over ambition, and every bit of wisdom he shows later is already there, just unpolished. Not confirmed for the show yet, but this period is the perfect window to glimpse who he was before the chains.

• Baelor Targaryen, Breakspear

  The golden standard. Eldest son of Daeron II and Myriah Martell of Dorne, with his mother's dark hair — rare enough among his silver-haired kin to turn heads. A brilliant warrior whose legend was forged during the Blackfyre Rebellion, he earned 'Breakspear' the old-fashioned way: by breaking the other guy. By the time of 'The Hedge Knight,' he is the prince people admire, though there is a sadness humming under all that honor. Bertie Carvel plays him, and you can already see the balance of steel and grace.

• Aegon 'Egg' Targaryen

  The kid with the cap who becomes a king. Egg is the fourth son of Maekar I, hiding in plain sight as Ser Duncan's squire. Curious, blunt, and braver than is healthy, he is the outlier Targaryen who actually learns what the realm looks like from the ground up. He eventually sits the Iron Throne as Aegon V — 'Aegon the Unlikely' — and rules with a reformer's streak. Dexter Sol Ansell plays young Egg; you may have spotted him as young Coriolanus Snow in 'The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.'

• Princess Daella Targaryen and Princess Rhae Targaryen

  Daughters of Maekar I and Lady Dyanna Dayne, and a rare breeze of calm in a family that prefers tempests. They are remembered for being kind and quiet, not for duels or scorched-earth politics. If they appear, expect small, steadying moments while louder Targaryens chew scenery and each other.

A note on who is actually cast

There have been a lot of first-look posts and breathless captions floating around, and some of them mix up who is playing whom. Here is the clean version: Finn Bennett is Aerion; Henry Ashton is Daeron; Sam Spruell is Maekar; Oscar Morgan is Valarr; Bertie Carvel is Baelor; Dexter Sol Ansell is Egg. Bloodraven has not been announced. Aerys I, Daeron II, Aemon, Daella, and Rhae are not confirmed to appear.

The vibe

Expect fewer dragons, more bruised knuckles. This is a story about a decent knight and a hidden prince bumping into the Targaryen machine — some noble, some unhinged, all complicated — in a window of time that Westeros usually rushes past. If HBO sticks the landing, it will feel grounded, a little sad, and full of the kind of choices that echo all the way to 'Game of Thrones.'