And the the Oh, The Dance of the Dragons is the Flowery Name bestowed upon the savage, in turn assigned struggle for the Iron Throne of Westros, fought between two rival branches of House Targarian during the years 129 to 131 AC.

To characterize the dark, turbulent, bloody doings of this period as a dance strikes us as grotesquely inappropriate.

No doubt the phrase originated with some singer.

The dying of the dragons would be altogether more fitting,

but tradition and time have burned the more poetic usage into the pages of history, so we must dance along with the rest.

There were two principal claimants to the Iron Throne upon the death of King Vissaries the First

Targarian, his daughter Renira, the only surviving child of his first marriage, and Aegon, his eldest son by his second wife.

Amidst the chaos and carnage brought on by their rivalry,

other would-be kings would stake claims as well,

strutting about like mamas on a stage for a fortnight or a moon's turn,

only to fall as swiftly as they had risen.

The dance split the Seven Kingdoms in two, as Lords, knights and small folk declared for one

side or the other, and took up arms against each other.

Even House Targary in itself became divided when the

Kith, kin, and children of each of the claimants became embroiled in the fighting.

Over the two years of struggle, a terrible toll was taken of the great lords of Westross, together with their bannermen, knights and smallfolk.

Whilst the dynasty survived, the end of the fighting so Targaryan power must diminished and the world's last

dragons vastly reduced in number. The dance was a war unlike any other ever fought in the long history of the slaughter took place on water and especially in the air, as

Dragon fought dragon with tooth and claw and flame.

It was a war marked by stealth, murder, and betrayal as well.

A war fought in shadows and stairwells, council chambers and castle yards,

with knives and lies. and We couldn't have said it better ourselves. Well, of course we couldn't.

...