Descended from a bastard or bastards legitimized by King Aegon IV the Unworthy, the Blackfyres troubled the Seven Kingdoms for five generations from the reigns of Daeron II to Jaehaerys II. Daemon Blackfyre, the first Blackfyre Pretender, presented the greatest threat to the Targaryen reign, and the last of them, Maelys the Monstrous, was slain on the Stepstones by Ser Barristan Selmy.