Incest was rare, even among the historical pre-Westeros Targaryens. Definitely also rare in Valyria. There were a shit ton of noble houses that ruled Valyria, and this ensured a complex web of political scheming, while also diluting the incest problem. Now, another thing that also caught my attention when reading Fire and Blood is that Targaryens are, health wise, flimsy as fuck. They die like flies of things others would survive. They are also prone to neurodivergency and many were labeled as weak of disposition and often not very athletic. It is what makes the odd tale of a Targaryen with strength and prowess for combat actually stand out. So in many more ways than just facial structure, incest seems to be affecting them somehow.
I went back to the book and it says “It had long been the custom amongst the dragonlords of Valyria to wed brother to sister, to keep the bloodlines pure”.
This is in the context of Aegon the Conqueror, so, yes it was already a practice before the Doom.
That’s true, the incenst is only necessary to keep the dragon riding blood in the family, if most of the noble houses have dragon riding blood then it doesn’t matter.
There is also the problem of the stillborn babies with dragon wings and scales.
Incest was rare, even among the historical pre-Westeros Targaryens. Definitely also rare in Valyria. There were a shit ton of noble houses that ruled Valyria, and this ensured a complex web of political scheming, while also diluting the incest problem. Now, another thing that also caught my attention when reading Fire and Blood is that Targaryens are, health wise, flimsy as fuck. They die like flies of things others would survive. They are also prone to neurodivergency and many were labeled as weak of disposition and often not very athletic. It is what makes the odd tale of a Targaryen with strength and prowess for combat actually stand out. So in many more ways than just facial structure, incest seems to be affecting them somehow.
I went back to the book and it says “It had long been the custom amongst the dragonlords of Valyria to wed brother to sister, to keep the bloodlines pure”.
This is in the context of Aegon the Conqueror, so, yes it was already a practice before the Doom.
That’s true, the incenst is only necessary to keep the dragon riding blood in the family, if most of the noble houses have dragon riding blood then it doesn’t matter.
There is also the problem of the stillborn babies with dragon wings and scales.