Does Daemon Cheat on Rhaenyra with Mysaria and Nettles?

We know that Daemon Targaryen is married to Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon, but it is also true that his personality is actually quite prone to doing some of the most immoral things. In that regard, he had had his fair share of relationships in his life before he married Rhaenyra. Still, the Fire & Blood book suggests that he wasn’t exactly faithful to his wife because he has been quite close with Mysaria and Nettles. So, does Daemon cheat on Rhaenyra with Mysaria and Nettles?

Mysaria used to be Daemon Targaryen’s lover before he got married to Laena and then to Rhaenyra. Meanwhile, the book suggests that he and Nettles had a relationship because they were bedside companions when they were together in Harrenhal during the time they hunted down Aemond and Vhagar.

Of course, Daemon stayed true to his personality as a man that was prone to following his feelings more than his logical side. As such, he isn’t the most-tempered man when it comes to deciding the right course of action, and that includes his relationships. So, with that said, let’s look at what we know about Daemon and his relationships with Mysaria and Nettles.

Daemon And Mysaria Relationship Explained

When Prince Daemon Targaryen was introduced during the first episode of House of the Dragon, it was clear that he wasn’t the kingliest person in terms of his overall personality as he was prone to doing cruel and brutal things and was someone who actually didn’t want to fulfill his duties to his wife at that time. Of course, he was also seen with a lover named Mysaria.

The first episode of House of the Dragon already allowed us to see how Daemon can be quite promiscuous, especially because he was known to frequent the pleasure houses of King’s Landing and had a preferred lover in Mysaria. In fact, in episode 2, he brought Mysaria to Dragonstone and announced that he was going to marry her until Princess Rhaenyra came in to demand Daemon cease the foolishness he was doing.

In that regard, it was clear that he was quite fond of Mysaria to the point that he threatened King Viserys that he would marry her. But their relationship ended there when Mysaria realized that Daemon was merely using her to taunt the king.

It took a while for Mysaria to appear once again, as she was the one who rescued Daemon from a drunken night in King’s Landing. But they weren’t together at that time. Still, it was clear that Mysaria had become a more elevated person in terms of her standing in society, as she had left her life as a whore. Then, by episode 9, she had become a powerful person among the smallfolk of King’s Landing, as she controlled a network of spies that knew what was happening in the city, including inside the Red Keep.

In the book, Daemon used this to his advantage as he reconnected with Mysaria in relation to the assassination of King Aegon II’s son, Prince Jaehaerys. However, it was never mentioned whether or not they had an affair during the time when Daemon was already married to Rhaenyra. In fact, Rhaenyra even took Mysaria in as an official mistress of whispers in her Small Council. That means that she trusted Mysaria enough, regardless of what kind of relationship Daemon may have had with her in the past.

Daemon And Nettles Relationship Explained

One of the characters that will eventually appear in House of the Dragon (especially if it stays true to the book) is Nettles, who was the only one to ever ride the wild dragon named Sheepstealer by offering sheep to it every single day. As such, she became a dragonrider that fought on the side of the Blacks during the Dance of the Dragons.

After Rhaenyra had taken King’s Landing from the Greens, she found out that Aemond and Vhagar were burning the Riverlands. That was when she sent both Daemon and Nettles on their dragons to find and kill Aemond. But the problem was that, after they had settled in Harrenhal, there were rumors flying around that Nettles became quite close to Daemon. In fact, the book said that Daemon took Nettles in as his “bedside companion” but failed to mention what their relationship was.

Regardless of what Daemon’s relationship with Nettles was, it was clear that he cared about her because Rhaenyra actually wanted her dead, but he allowed her to escape with her life. Daemon helped the girl flee Harrenhal together with Sheepstealer, as they were never heard of since then. As such, Daemon cared enough about her that he actually wanted her to stay safe from the wrath of his wife.

Does Daemon Cheat On Rhaenyra With Mysaria and Nettles?

Now that you know more about Daemon’s relationship with Mysaria and Nettles, it is now easier to determine whether or not he cheated on Rhaenyra with these girls. Of course, let’s get into the details of this discussion.

As to Mysaria, it was true that Daemon once had a thing with her when she was still a whore. Mysaria probably felt something for Daemon as well, especially because she didn’t want to live her entire life as a whore. The prospect of becoming a more elevated person in society was quite enticing to her, but that doesn’t mean that she wanted to be with Daemon.

It was clear that all that Mysaria desired in life was to escape her former life as a whore, and she did so through sheer hard work. She was able to become a more respected person among the smallfolk of King’s Landing, with or without Daemon. As such, she never needed him and never even tried to get back with him when they met again years after that incident in Dragonstone.

In fact, in the book, Mysaria became a trusted adviser working for Rhaenyra, as she was sort of the counterpart of Lord Larys Strong for the Blacks. So, if there was something going on between Daemon and Mysaria, Rhaenyra wouldn’t have taken her in as one of her advisers.

Meanwhile, things are a bit more ambiguous when it comes to Daemon’s relationship with Nettles. The book suggests that they did indeed have a relationship with one another while Daemon was still married to Rhaenyra. In fact, it was Mysaria, who used her network of spies, that informed Rhaenyra that Nettles had been sleeping with Daemon.

But the book never explained whether or not they were actually in a romantic relationship. And this is where it gets tricky because there is still a good chance that Nettles was actually Daemon’s bastard daughter, especially because she was still quite young when she was introduced in the book.

We know that dragons don’t allow anyone (except Targaryens) to ride them. But the fact that Nettles was able to mount Sheepstealer suggests that she may have Targaryen blood in her. Daemon probably knew this and may have pieced things together to come up with the conclusion that Nettles could be his daughter, especially when we consider the fact that he was quite promiscuous during his youth and had spent time in Dragonstone.

As such, the two possibilities that exist here are that Daemon did indeed have a relationship with Nettles and was sleeping with her or that he realized that she was his daughter and that he was trying to get to know her better. Regardless, it would be interesting to see how House of the Dragon would interpret this storyline between Daemon and Nettles.