The ten-year gap between episodes 5 and 6 of House of the Dragon brought a series of surprises to those who kept themselves away from book spoilers. That’s because, among all of the different surprises that we saw, Daemon Targaryen and Laena Velaryon were now married to one another and now had a family. In fact, they had daughters named Baela and Rhaena. So, who are Baela and Rhaena Targaryen in House of the Dragon?
Baela and Rhaena are sisters born to Daemon and Laena. Baela is the older of the two and was the only one whose dragon egg was able to hatch. On the other hand, the younger Rhaena struggled to hatch her own dragon egg, as her mother told her that not all dragon eggs ever hatch at all.
At this point, Baela and Rhaena probably don’t seem important, but they will take part in the Dance of the Dragons as dragonriders. Of course, while many dragonriders and dragons lost their lives in the war, we can take solace in the fact that both Baela and Rhaena survived as they were able to live out the rest of their lives after the war. Now, let’s meet Baela and Rhaena Targaryen.
Who Are Baela And Rhaena Targaryen?
We all know that there was a massive time skip between episodes 5 and 6 of House of the Dragon, as many of the things that happened in the first five episodes developed during the ten-year gap before episode 6. One of the developments that we saw was the death of Rhea Royce and the moment between Daemon Targaryen and Laena Velaryon during the betrothal banquet for Rhaenyra Targaryen and Laenor Velaryon. Of course, now that Rhea was dead, Daemon was free to flirt with whoever he chose.
As such, the flirtation between Daemon and Laena turned into something bigger as they got married during the ten-year time skip between episodes 5 and 6. This was one of the biggest surprises that those who never spoiled themselves by reading the book saw. But the more surprising part was the fact that Daemon and Laena now had a family in the form of two beautiful young girls that bore their parents’ pure Valyrian roots.
These girls are Baela and Rhaena Targaryen. So, who are Baela and Rhaena Targaryen in House of the Dragon?
Baela and Rhaena Targaryen are the two daughters that Daemon Targaryen had with his second wife, Laena Velaryon. In the book, they are described to be twins, although that may or may not be the case in House of the Dragon, as they weren’t introduced to be twin sisters. And even if they aren’t twins, there’s a good chance that their age gap isn’t that wide.
The daughters were first introduced during a dinner scene involving Daemon’s family and the Pentoshi prince that had been their generous hosts during the Targaryen family’s travels. In that scene, the prince was about to propose something to Daemon and Laena, only to be interrupted by the matriarch, who thought that the prince wanted to marry one of her daughters. This surprised both Baela, who clearly didn’t want to marry the man, all while Rhaena was quite amused at her sister’s reaction.
From that scene, it was clear that Baela was the less cheerful one of the two while Rhaena was the one who was more cheerful and ladylike. In the book, Baela comes with a more boyish look and personality. On the other hand, Rhaena was more ladylike compared to her sister.
It was also shown later in the episode that Baela was a dragonrider, unlike Rhaena, who struggled to hatch the dragon egg that she was given while she was still in her cradle. Rhaena was shown holding the dragon egg next to the fireplace in the hopes that it would hatch.
To that, Laena told her daughter that about half of the eggs that the dragons lay don’t ever hatch, no matter what they did. But she also comforted Rhaena by telling her that she didn’t have her own dragon until she was 15. And it was when she turned 15 that she was able to claim Vhagar, the largest and strongest dragon in the world.
As such, Rhaena felt confident in the thought that she could eventually have her own dragon as well, considering that her mother didn’t have her own until she was 15. But that was the final scene involving Laena and one of her daughters.
Later on, Laena struggled to give birth to her third child, as the only choice that they had was to allow her to bleed to death or to open her up to try to take the child out of the womb. But there was no assurance that the child would survive. Of course, Laena would die due to blood loss if they were to open her womb.
As such, Laena died on her own terms when she forced Vhagar to burn her alive. She was able to die a dragonrider’s death instead of dying due to a choice made by Daemon or any of the maesters.
Laena’s death meant that both Baela and Rhaena were left without a mother, as Daemon wasn’t exactly the most father-like person out there. And the two girls would eventually have to live the rest of their young lives without a true parent figure.
What Are The Roles Of Baela And Rhaena Targaryen?
At this point, we are unsure about the roles of Baela and Rhaena as the series may or may not follow their storylines in the book. But the fact is that they are going to eventually have important roles in the Dance of the Dragons.
Baela, being the better warrior and dragonrider of the two, was the one who participated in the Dance of the Dragons while mounted on her dragon Moondancer. However, she lost her dragon to Aegon II and Sunfyre but was able to survive the fight because she unsaddled herself before her Moondancer was killed. While she may have lost her fight to Aegon II, her dragon dealt fatal wounds to Sunfyre, as Aegon II lost his dragon shortly.
As a captive of the Greens, Baela was about to be beheaded at the orders of Aegon II, who wanted justice for the death of his dragon. However, he changed his mind when he learned that she was the granddaughter of Lord Corlys Velaryon, whose favor and forces he needed in order to win the war. She survived the war and was later married to Alyn Velaryon.
On the other hand, Rhaena was not the fighter or the dragonrider that Baela was. Instead, she was more ladylike and was someone who the knights would fight over. Nevertheless, she still had her own role to play in the Dance of the Dragons as she received a clutch of eggs from Syrax.
It was because one of the eggs from Syrax hatched under Rhaena’s care that made the smallfolk think that the Blacks were more legitimate than the Greens, who no longer had any dragons at that point and struggled to hatch any of their dragon eggs. As such, Rhaena was able to win more of the smallfolk to the side of the Blacks during the Dance of the Dragons, even though she never rode her dragon named Morning.
Rhaena also survived the events of the civil war and married Garmund Hightower. She and her sister were able to live long lives after the Dance of the Dragons, as they were two of the few remaining people with Targaryen blood to survive the civil war that nearly tore the country in half.
