In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, King Aegon I Targaryen and his sisters never managed to conquer Dorne despite successfully conquering and ruling the rest of Westeros. The entire conquest was undone and House Martell remained in control of an independent Dorne for another forty years, until later uniting with the Iron Throne through marriage-alliance. įour years after the initial conquest it ended up costing Daeron I's own life as he attempted to restore control, when he was only 18 years old, as well as costing the lives of 60,000 of his men. The Dornish rebelled en masse, however, after Daeron's steward, Lord Lyonel Tyrell, was killed when he pulled a sash by his bed to summon his consorts and the canopy split open, dropping a hundred red scorpions over him. While the initial conquest was successful, it led to a protracted Dornish insurgency which bled the occupation forces through guerrilla tactics and ambushes.
The conquest was all the more impressive because the young warrior-king was only 14 years old at the time, earning him the nickname 'the Young Dragon'.
Daeron I sought to succeed where even King Aegon I Targaryen had not, and conquer Dorne in the name of House Targaryen.ĭaeron I's conquest was a stunning success - all the more so because he did it without dragons, which had gone extinct during the reign of his father.
