Rhaenyra and Daemon Targaryen’s Relationship within the Books

HBO’s extremely anticipated “Recreation of Thrones” prequel, “Home of the Dragon,” introduces us to a slew of historic Targaryens, centuries earlier than Daenerys’s quest for the Iron Throne. Two of essentially the most vital members of the sophisticated household tree are Rhaenyra and Daemon Targaryen, and their relationship is each extremely vital and extremely tangled. Within the fourth episode of “Home of the Dragon,” the pair kiss in a brothel, and when rumors that they have been intimate collectively attain the king, Daemon tries to get Viserys to let him marry his niece Rhaenyra. The king refuses, however their story will not finish there. Spoilers forward for each the guide “Fireplace and Blood” and for “Home of the Dragon”!

Are Rhaenyra and Daemon Associated?

Like many different Targaryens, Daemon and Rhaenyra are each associated by blood and (finally) romantically concerned. Rhaenyra is Daemon’s niece, because the daughter of his older brother, King Viserys I. The 2 are also brother- and sister-in-law by their earlier marriages. Rhaenyra’s first marriage is to Laenor Velaryon, whereas Daemon’s second spouse is Laenor’s sister, Laena. Daemon is, after all, youthful than Rhaenyra’s father Viserys, however he is nonetheless considerably older than her: within the books, there is a 16-year age hole between Rhaenyra and Daemon.

Rhaenyra and Daemon’s Earlier Relationships

Within the books, each Rhaenyra and Daemon are married and have youngsters earlier than they marry one another. The fictional historians of the books differ of their accounts of the pair’s early relationship as soon as Rhaenyra was in her mid-teens, however rumors swirl that they did have some form of sexual relationship earlier than Rhaenyra’s first marriage. In any case, Rhaenyra and Daemon later married the Velaryon siblings and had youngsters with them, though, as soon as once more, rumors swirled round Rhaenyra: her husband Laenor reportedly was homosexual, and their sons have been rumored to have been fathered by her lover, Harwin Robust.

Rhaenyra and Daemon’s Marriage

Within the 12 months 120 AC (the calendar in Westeros is measured by years following Aegon I’s conquest), each Velaryon siblings die. Quickly after being widowed, Daemon and Rhaenyra marry one another in secret when he’s 39 years outdated, and he or she is 23. Their marriage causes an enormous scandal at court docket and one other rift between Daemon and Viserys, however it’s finally accepted. The couple has two sons collectively, Aegon and Viserys.

Almost a decade after their marriage, the civil warfare referred to as the Dance of the Dragons begins when Viserys I dies. Rhaenyra, his designated inheritor, just isn’t even knowledgeable of her father’s loss of life till after her half-brother, Aegon II, scoops up the throne for himself. After all, Rhaenyra just isn’t involved in taking place and not using a combat, and Daemon staunchly helps her: in truth, he crowns her personally along with her late father’s crown.

Rhaenyra and Daemon’s Legacy

Neither Rhaenyra nor Daemon stay to see the top of the Dance of the Dragons, however neither does Aegon II. With each claimants to the Iron throne useless, The Dance of the Dragons ends in a negotiated peace and sees Rhaenyra and Daemon’s son, Aegon III Targaryen (aka, Aegon the Youthful), topped king. Descendants of Rhaenyra and Daemon sit on the Iron Throne till the autumn of the Targaryen dynasty centuries later.