Game of thrones help

[BelfastSpartan]

Just started reading the books (have been watching the series so I know what happens)
One thing is confusing me at the minute if someone could clarify please.

So in my head I 've got it like this:
The mad king gets killed who is a Dragon(?) by Robert and Ned and his family is cast out, hence why Viserys and Daenerys are across the water! So basically the mad king was their father.

Now I've just read that Ned and Robert killed the self proclaimed king, Balon Greyjoy of the Iron islands?!? Who was Theons father( who now lives pretty much like one of the Stark children (according to the tv series), doesn't seem too upset that the man he 'serves' killed his dad!)

Was Theons father the mad king or Viserys' Father? If so how does the otther one fit into this?

 

[BelfastSpartan]

Sorry ignore most of the above, cleared up the mad king and the Targaryens but still confused as to how the Greyjoys fit into it.

I know Jaime Lannister killed the mad king, so why did Robert and Ned kill the 'self proclaimed' king? Were the 2 incidents related?

 

[GodsAndFishes]

The war against the Mad King was a proper civil war. While the war against Greyjoy was more due to Greyjoy getting too big for his boots and rebelling (and then getting absolutely crushed). I'm pretty sure that Ned and Robert didn't kill Greyjoy though, and Theon was taken after the rebellion basically as a hostage to ensure Greyjoy's loyalty to the Seven Kingdoms.

 

[Toaster Hunter]

They are unrelated. It is explained more in the later books (Clash of Kings and Storm of Swords).
Some minor spoilers ahead. I'm not giving away too much here, but will spoiler it anyway.

Spoiler

A brief explanation is after Roberts rebellion (When the mad king Ayres is killed), a local lord takes advantage of the confusion and breaks away from the Seven Kingdoms and declares independence. Everything is going great, until Ned and Robert Break out the siege equipment and his rebellion fails, with Thenon taken as a hostage to ensure future cooperation. The King of the Iron Isles is Balon Greyjoy, Thenon's fateher who is very much alive. You will meet him in the later books.

 

[BelfastSpartan]

That clears that up, thank you very much.