Is Rhaenyra Pregnant with Daemon’s Child in Episode 8?

Episode 8 of House of the Dragon opened up with a reveal that six years had passed since episode 7. That means that a lot of things have happened since we last left our characters in what was an eventful seventh episode of House of the Dragons. As such, when we first saw Rhaenyra Targaryen after the six-year time skip, she was already in the middle of her sixth pregnancy. So, is Rhaenyra pregnant with Daemon’s child?

There is no doubt that this child belongs to Daemon Targaryen, as Rhaenyra no longer had the urge and need to flirt with lovers during her marriage with her uncle. She knows what her affair with Ser Harwin Strong brought to her family, and that means that she wants to avoid anything similar from happening again.

Ever since episode 6 of House of the Dragon, we were made to see that Rhaenyra and her first three sons were under constant attacks from different parties because of the questioned legitimacy of her children. In that regard, there are no more questions like those after she married Daemon, as all of their children are legitimate and pure-blooded Targaryens, just like the third one that Rhaenyra carried in episode 8.

Is Rhaenyra Pregnant With Daemon’s Child?

We all know that Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and Prince Daemon Targaryen finally tied the knot in episode 7 of House of the Dragon after the series consistently teased us with the obvious sexual tension between the two characters. They desired each other for a very long time, and that meant that it was only a matter of time before they finally got married, especially after they worked together to fake Laenor Velaryon’s death.

Meanwhile, episode 8 allowed us to see that six years had already passed ever since episode 7. That means that there were a lot of things that happened between the two episodes, as we actually saw Rhaenyra pregnant in episode 8 when we first saw her. From the looks of things, it was clear that she was already several months into her pregnancy and was going to give birth sooner or later. So, is Rhaenyra pregnant with Daemon’s child?

When we first saw Rhaenyra as an adult back in episode 6, ten years had passed since she got married to Laenor. However, we were made to see that none of her children looked anything like her husband, as the entire realm saw them as bastards that Rhaenyra conceived through her affairs with Ser Harwin Strong. In that regard, it was clear that the legitimacy of Rhaenyra’s children was going to always be questioned by different characters in the series, especially those who are on Queen Alicent’s side, as even her children questioned the paternity of their nephews.

In that regard, Rhaenyra knew first-hand what another affair would bring to her life, as she already had trouble dealing with the attacks that came her way when she had her first three children during her first marriage. That meant that she was never going to have another affair again, as this would only weaken her status as the designated heir to the Iron Throne and would only allow her enemies to fire more arrows at her.

That means that Rhaenyra was indeed pregnant with Daemon’s child in episode 8. In fact, as we saw in the episode, Rhaenyra already had two other sons with Daemon. They were named Aegon and Viserys, respectively, as they were named after two great kings of the Seven Kingdoms. That means that the child that Rhaenyra was carrying in episode 8 was already her third child with Daemon and her sixth pregnancy overall.

Of course, there is also the fact that Rhaenyra no longer had the desire to look for anyone else. In episode 7, she told Daemon that she only had an affair with Harwin because she wanted to feel desired. She loved Laenor but in a manner that wasn’t romantic or sexual because she understood that Laenor had other preferences in life. Instead, Rhaenyra loved him because he was a good man.

As such, Rhaenyra had an affair with Harwin because she wanted to feel what it was to be desired by someone who actually looked at her as a woman. And that means that Rhaenyra wanted to love someone not only as a husband but also as a true lover.

That was what Daemon was to her, as her uncle was always someone she desired deeply. She wanted to be with Daemon when she was just a child, and she was finally able to fulfill that desire when they got married. Daemon now represented the kind of husband that she wanted in the sense that he could protect her and had the name that would allow Rhaenyra’s claim to the Iron Throne to bear weight. On top of that, she also loved Daemon both romantically and sexually.

So, because Rhaenyra was already troubled with the different accusations against her and her first three sons and because she now had the perfect husband in Daemon, there was no more need for her to enter an affair during her marriage with her uncle. That means that all of her children in her second marriage were indeed Daemon’s.

Who Is Rhaenyra’s Third Child With Daemon?

The child that Rhaenyra was seen carrying in her womb in episode 8 is her third child with Daemon and is named Visenya Targaryen, who is the only daughter she has ever had out of the six children that she bore during her lifetime.

As we saw near the end of episode 8, Rhaenyra decided to sail back to Dragonstone with her family, as she did so right before her father passed away. In the book, Rhaenyra was on Dragonstone when Alicent and Otto Hightower proclaimed King Aegon II as the rightful ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. It was also Ser Criston Cole who placed the crown of Aegon the Conqueror on his head.

Meanwhile, the Green faction also kept King Viserys’s death hidden from the public while they were scheming on how to put Aegon II on the Iron Throne. That meant that it took a while before Rhaenyra found out about her father’s death and about the fact that her brother, Aegon II, was now proclaimed the king of the Seven Kingdoms.

Out of anger and grief, Rhaenyra was forced into labor one month early. As such, she gave birth to a stillborn daughter that couldn’t survive the world. According to the accounts in the book, Visenya was born a hideous and deformed monster-looking baby due to the fact that she was stillborn. Nevertheless, we don’t know whether or not this will be adapted into the series, but all we know is that there is a good chance that Rhaenyra will indeed lose her baby after finding out about her father’s death and the ascension of her younger brother.