Aegon’s Conquest Movie: Everything We Know From Fire & Blood And ASOIAF
Westeros is finally getting the origin story it has always deserved. The Aegon’s Conquest movie now has an official release date of 1 June 2029, which means fans have a near three-year wait before Aegon Targaryen makes his long-promised big-screen debut. Plot details remain locked away for now, but the character at the centre of the story gives us more than enough to work with when speculating about what this film could become.
Aegon the Conqueror’s campaign to unify the Seven Kingdoms stands as one of the most consequential events in George R.R. Martin’s history of Westeros, and it is documented in exhaustive detail across Fire & Blood. Scattered references throughout the core A Song of Ice and Fire novels add further texture, filling in how Aegon, his conquest, and his legacy are remembered generations later. Between the kingdoms involved, the characters who shaped the outcome, and the battles that decided it, the source material hands the Game of Thrones Aegon’s Conquest movie an unusually detailed blueprint. Whether the adaptation sticks faithfully to that blueprint or takes creative liberties is another matter entirely.
That ambiguity matters more here than it might for other adaptations, because Fire & Blood isn’t a straightforward narrative. It’s framed as an in-universe historical account, pieced together from conflicting and sometimes unreliable sources. That structure leaves gaps in Aegon’s story that the film will have to fill one way or another, whether by invention or careful extrapolation.
When Aegon’s Conquest Takes Place & What Westeros Looks Like
The Aegon’s Conquest movie will pull audiences roughly three centuries before the events of Game of Thrones, into a Westeros that bears little resemblance to the realm later ruled from King’s Landing. There is no Iron Throne at this point in history, no capital city, and certainly no unified Seven Kingdoms. Instead, the continent is splintered among independent rulers: the Starks hold the North, the Arryns control the Vale, the Lannisters govern the Westerlands, the Gardeners rule the Reach, the Durrandons sit in the Stormlands, the Martells preside over Dorne, and House Hoare controls both the Iron Islands and the Riverlands.
Fire & Blood actually begins well before any of that, tracing the Targaryens back to Old Valyria, the dominant civilisation whose dragonlords once ruled much of Essos. According to the book, Daenys Targaryen foresaw Valyria’s destruction in a dream, prompting her father, Aenar Targaryen, to move the family and their dragons to Dragonstone twelve years ahead of the catastrophe. That foresight proved decisive: the Doom of Valyria obliterated the Valyrian Freehold in 102 BC, leaving House Targaryen as the sole dragonlord family of any real significance left in the world.
Rather than striking out immediately, the Targaryens stayed on Dragonstone for generations. It would take nearly a century before Aegon Targaryen and his sisters, Visenya and Rhaenys, finally turned their gaze westward. Aegon’s invasion of Westeros begins in 2 BC, a date so pivotal that Westerosi history would eventually be measured around his conquest and coronation.
Every Major Character In Aegon’s Conquest
While Aegon Targaryen will naturally anchor the film, Fire & Blood surrounds him with a sprawling ensemble drawn from nearly every region of Westeros. Crucially, this isn’t a solo campaign. Visenya and Rhaenys Targaryen, Aegon’s sister-wives, command independent portions of the invasion, riding Vhagar and Meraxes respectively while Aegon leads from atop Balerion.
Several figures stand out as the most likely players in any Aegon’s Conquest movie adaptation:
- Aegon Targaryen: The future Aegon the Conqueror, determined to bring Westeros under one crown astride Balerion the Black Dread.
- Visenya Targaryen: Aegon’s elder sister-wife, a battle-hardened warrior and rider of Vhagar, whose campaign focuses heavily on the Vale.
- Rhaenys Targaryen: Aegon’s younger sister-wife and rider of Meraxes, who leads the push into the Stormlands and makes an unsuccessful attempt to bring Dorne to heel.
- Orys Baratheon: Aegon’s closest companion and rumoured bastard half-brother, whose defeat of the Storm King establishes House Baratheon as rulers of the Stormlands.
- Argilac Durrandon: The ageing Storm King, whose standoff with Aegon ignites the entire conflict.
- Argella Durrandon: Argilac’s daughter, who later marries Orys Baratheon, linking the fading Durrandon line to the new Baratheon dynasty.
- Harren Hoare: Known as Harren the Black, ruler of the Iron Islands and Riverlands, and master of the newly built Harrenhal.
- Edmyn Tully: A riverlord who abandons Harren and throws his support behind Aegon.
- Loren Lannister and Mern IX Gardener: The Kings of the Rock and the Reach, who join forces against Aegon at the Field of Fire. Mern’s death effectively ends House Gardener’s reign.
- Torrhen Stark: The King in the North, remembered ever after as the “King Who Knelt” for choosing surrender over slaughter.
- Sharra and Ronnel Arryn: The Vale’s queen regent and young king, whose confrontation with Visenya produces one of the Conquest’s more unconventional victories.
- Meria Martell: The elderly Princess of Dorne, whose refusal to bow leaves Dorne as the single kingdom Aegon never conquers.
Taken together, this cast gives the Aegon’s Conquest movie far more depth than a simple tale of dragons burning their way across a continent. It’s equally a story of shifting alliances, calculated surrender, the extinction of entire dynasties, and the founding of houses that still matter three hundred years later.
As for antagonists, there’s no single villain driving the narrative. Harren the Black is the clearest candidate, thanks to his brutal reputation and his refusal to abandon Harrenhal even in the face of Balerion. Argilac Durrandon serves as an earlier obstacle, his dispute with Aegon effectively lighting the fuse. Later, Loren Lannister and Mern Gardener step into the role of primary military threat when they combine armies at the Field of Fire. Meria Martell, meanwhile, never squares off against Aegon in open battle, but her defiance denies him the complete conquest he’s remembered for.
Fire & Blood Reveals The Film’s Potential Story & Biggest Battles
The Fire & Blood chapter covering the Conquest runs only a few dozen pages, yet it’s dense enough with incident to fuel an entire film. The trigger is almost absurdly simple: Argilac Durrandon, the Storm King, proposes an alliance sealed by marriage. Aegon counters with a different offer, Argilac rejects it and mutilates the envoy sent to deliver it, and Aegon responds by declaring his intention to become sole ruler of Westeros.
From there, Aegon lands near the mouth of the Blackwater Rush with a modest force and establishes the Aegonfort, the settlement that will eventually grow into King’s Landing. The Targaryen siblings then split up. Aegon pushes into the Riverlands, Rhaenys and Orys Baratheon head for the Stormlands, and Visenya rides for the Vale.
That three-pronged structure practically writes the film’s set pieces for it. Aegon’s confrontation with Harren the Black culminates in Balerion incinerating Harrenhal with House Hoare still inside its walls, despite the fortress’s reputation as unbreakable. Rhaenys and Orys defeat Argilac at the Last Storm, where Orys kills the Storm King personally and claims Storm’s End for his new house.
The Field of Fire stands as the Conquest’s largest and most cinematic battle, and it’s difficult to imagine any adaptation skipping it. Kings Mern Gardener and Loren Lannister muster roughly 55,000 men against Aegon’s considerably smaller force, only for Aegon, Visenya, and Rhaenys to unleash all three dragons together. It remains the only engagement of the entire Conquest where Balerion, Vhagar, and Meraxes fight as one. The result is devastating: thousands killed, House Gardener’s ruling line wiped out, and Loren Lannister forced into submission.
Elsewhere, Torrhen Stark avoids bloodshed entirely by kneeling rather than facing dragonfire, while Visenya secures the Vale without a major battle at all. Dorne alone holds out, leaving the Conquest technically unfinished. The chapter closes with Aegon’s arrival in Oldtown and his coronation by the High Septon, a natural endpoint for the film: Aegon I Targaryen crowned King of the Seven Kingdoms, even with one kingdom still beyond his reach.
A Song Of Ice And Fire Adds Even More To Aegon’s Story
While Fire & Blood offers the most direct account of the Conquest itself, the main A Song of Ice and Fire novels contribute something just as valuable: perspective. Nearly three hundred years on, Aegon’s victories are still invoked as the defining proof of how dragons reshaped Westerosi politics, and the consequences of his choices remain visible throughout the series.
Stannis Baratheon, for instance, reflects on Aegon’s Painted Table and notices that it depicted Westeros without any of the borders separating the Seven Kingdoms, hinting that Aegon pictured a unified realm long before he ever set foot on the continent. Torrhen Stark’s decision to kneel is likewise still debated generations later, with Catelyn Stark invoking the “King Who Knelt” when weighing the cost of fighting an unwinnable war.
Other characters remember Aegon chiefly through the terrifying power of his dragons. Daenerys, Tyrion, Jorah, and others repeatedly cite the Conquest whenever they consider what it would actually take to seize or hold the Iron Throne. Harrenhal’s blackened, ruined towers remain the most visible scar of that era, a permanent reminder of exactly what Balerion did to the strongest castle in Westeros.
None of these references necessarily hand the film new plot points to adapt, but they do sharpen the picture of Aegon’s lasting impact as a conqueror. How closely the movie ultimately follows this material is still an open question, particularly given Fire & Blood‘s deliberately unreliable narration. Even so, with Aegon’s Conquest documented so thoroughly across George R.R. Martin’s work, the filmmakers already have one of the richest foundations in the franchise’s history to build from.
What This Means For Fans Counting Down To 2029
There’s a long wait ahead before the Aegon’s Conquest movie reaches cinemas, but the source material gives fans plenty to dissect in the meantime. Between the political collapse of Old Valyria, the ensemble of kings and claimants scattered across Westeros, and set pieces like the Field of Fire, the groundwork for a genuinely eventful film already exists on the page. The real question isn’t whether there’s enough story to tell. It’s how much of that story the filmmakers choose to keep.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the Aegon’s Conquest movie release date?
The film is officially scheduled for release on 1 June 2029.
What is the Aegon’s Conquest movie based on?
It draws primarily from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, with additional context pulled from the main A Song of Ice and Fire novels.
Who are the main characters in Aegon’s Conquest?
Aegon Targaryen, Visenya Targaryen, Rhaenys Targaryen, and Orys Baratheon lead the campaign, with figures like Harren Hoare, Argilac Durrandon, Loren Lannister, Mern Gardener, Torrhen Stark, and Meria Martell shaping the opposition and alliances along the way.
What is the biggest battle in Aegon’s Conquest?
The Field of Fire is the largest battle, where Aegon, Visenya, and Rhaenys deploy all three dragons together against a combined force of roughly 55,000 men led by Loren Lannister and Mern Gardener.
Does Aegon conquer all of Westeros?
No. Dorne, led by Meria Martell, refuses to submit, leaving it the one kingdom outside Aegon’s rule at the end of the Conquest.
