What Is the Relationship Between Daemon and Rhaenyra? (& Do They Have a Child Together)
One of the things that were already clear from the very start of House of the Dragon was that there was some sort of sexual tension between Prince Daemon Targaryen and Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. Granted that Targaryens have been wedding brothers and sisters for hundreds of years, the tension between the two was clearly different, as it eventually became clear in episode 4 that they desired each other. So, with that said, what is the relationship between Daemon and Rhaenyra?
Daemon is the uncle of Rhaenyra, as he is the brother of her father. In the book, Daemon and Rhaenyra eventually marry each other after the deaths of their respective Velaryon spouses. The union bore a son named Aegon III, who eventually became the king of the Seven Kingdoms after Aegon II’s death.
The fact that Daemon and Rhaenyra desired one another was never a secret, as this was always the direction of the storyline between the two characters, as far as the book is concerned. As such, we were made to see a sneak preview of their relationship in episode 4, even though it wasn’t consummated. Now, with that said, let’s look at the relationship between Daemon and Rhaenyra and what their future holds for them.
What Is The Relationship Between Daemon And Rhaenyra?
Before the beginning of House of the Dragon, we already know that the series would revolve around the events before, during, and after the Dance of the Dragons, which is the Targaryen civil war that caused the extinction of the dragons from the world and weakened House Targaryen. Of course, we know for a fact that the Dance of the Dragons was going to include two important characters—Daemon and Rhaenyra.
During the early part of House of the Dragon, we already saw how differently Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen saw Prince Daemon Targaryen, who was a renegade prince that tends to do cruel things and is quite the rebel when it comes to the way he goes about his business. Nevertheless, Rhaenyra was clearly fond of him, even though Daemon ended up becoming an estranged prince after King Viserys Targaryen disinherited him from the Iron and Throne and named Rhaenyra as his heir.
But while it had been years since Daemon and Rhaenyra saw one another, the prince returned to King’s Landing as a conqueror after he had successfully defeated the Crabfeeder and the Triarchy in the Stepstones. That was why a party was held in honor of his victory, as Daemon and his Viserys reunited for the first time in many years. Of course, Rhaenyra also saw Daemon for the first time in a long time as well.
During the evening, Daemon broke Rhaenyra out of the Red Keep so that they could explore the streets of King’s Landing together. They were able to see some of the things that Rhaenyra had never seen in her entire life. However, the most notable part was when Daemon brought her to a pleasure house, where Rhaenyra was able to see people having sex for the first time in her life. And that was what evoked something within both Daemon and Rhaenyra.
Ever since the beginning of the series, it was already clear that Daemon was Rhaenyra’s uncle because he was the younger brother of her uncle. Nevertheless, knowing that Targaryens never frowned upon incest, both of them were already interested in one another from the very start, as Daemon and Rhaenyra always had some sort of sexual tension between them. And it was during the pleasure house scene in episode 4 that this sexual tension became tangible.
Aroused by the different people having sex all over them, Daemon and Rhaenyra proceeded to kiss one another as it appeared that they were also about to have sex. However, the prince, at the very last moment, stopped himself from going through with the act of having sex with his niece. And this left Rhaenyra confused about what had happened.
Still aroused by the incident, Rhaenyra stormed back to her room in the Red Keep and proceeded to seduce Ser Criston Cole instead. But it was that moment with Daemon that made things complicated for the prince and the princess as Rhaenyra’s virtue came under suspicion from both her father and Queen Alicent.
Viserys confronted Daemon, who admitted to the act (despite the fact that he never consummated with Rhaenyra). He went on to ask Viserys to give him Rhaenyra as his wife so that they could strengthen the Targaryen bloodline for generations to come. Nevertheless, Viserys denied Daemon what he lusted for as he was sent back to the Eyrie to be with his lawfully wedded wife. Meanwhile, in a later scene, Viserys told Rhaenyra that she was going to marry Ser Laenor Velaryon.
Will Daemon And Rhaenyra Ever Get Married?
In the book, Rhaenyra does indeed marry Laenor, as that might be what will happen in the very next episode. However, the marriage was political in nature because Viserys wanted to mend the relationship between House Targaryen and House Velaryon while also making their united families more powerful than ever. Laenor, however, preferred the company of men over women.
Meanwhile, Daemon himself was also married to a Velaryon, as he ended up taking Laena Velaryon as his wife. In that regard, both Rhaenyra and Daemon married Velaryons which allowed House Targaryen to become more powerful due to the fact that the Velaryons controlled half of the realm’s fleets and half of the dragons that exist in the world.
However, both Laenor and Laena died before the events of the Dance of the Dragons. This was the opening that Rhaenyra and Daemon needed as they ended up marrying one another to strengthen the princess’s claim to the Iron Throne.
The marriage between Rhaenyra and Daemon allowed their forces to unite against Aegon II’s own forces during the Dance of the Dragons. And this relationship was already hinted at by the series at the very beginning when Daemon and Rhaenyra had a somewhat affectionate moment during the prince’s introduction.
Will Daemon And Rhaenyra Have A Child Together?
All of Rhaenyra’s children with Laenor (rumored to be Ser Harwin Strong’s children) perished during the Dance of the Dragons. However, she ended up having a child with Daemon in the form of Aegon III, who she named after Aegon the Conqueror. Of course, Alicent, who also named her child Aegon, saw this as an insult.
However, during the Dance of the Dragons, both Daemon and Rhaenyra perished as they were unsuccessful in winning the Iron Throne against Aegon II. Daemon died in a battle against Aemond, as this fight also took the lives of their dragons, Caraxes and Vhagar. On the other hand, Rhaenyra was eventually captured by Aegon II’s forces and was fed to Sunfyre.
Corlys Velaryon pleaded with Aegon II to spare Aegon III’s life. But shortly after he began his reign as the uncontested king of the Seven Kingdoms, Aegon II was poisoned. This allowed Aegon III to rise as the new king of the Seven Kingdoms. But it was during his rule that the dragons ended up becoming extinct, as his experiences during the Dance of the Dragons traumatized and scarred him for life to the point that he developed a hatred for these creatures.
