Who Does Rhaenyra Marry in House of the Dragon?

Ever since the beginning of House of the Dragon, the one thing we saw was that Princess Rhaenyra was often told by her parents that she would soon become a queen that had to bear children because it was her royal duty to continue the Targaryen lineage. We could only expect that this will become an even bigger issue down the line in the series, especially when Rhaenyra does indeed come of age. So, who does Rhaenyra marry in House of the Dragon?

In the book, Rhaenyra will marry Leanor Velaryon, who is the son of Corlys Velaryon and Rhaenys Targaryen, as a political arrangement to unite the families. However, Leanor eventually dies in the book, as did Daemon’s wife. That would lead to the union between Rhaenyra and her uncle, Daemon.

It was already foreshadowed during the early part of House of the Dragon that Rhaenyra saw her uncle Daemon in a different light, as did Daemon. There was always something special going on between these two Targaryens, as it was never taboo for Targaryens to wed family members. In that regard, let’s look at Rhaenyra’s future husbands as far as the book is concerned.

Who Does Rhaenyra Marry In The Book?

Early on in House of the Dragon, we were made to see that Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen was going to play an important part in the storyline, as the series is an adaptation of George RR Martin’s Fire and Blood. In that regard, the source material clearly showed that Rhaenyra was a huge part of the development of the events that eventually led to the Targaryen civil war called the Dance of the Dragons.

However, during the early part of the series adaptation, we saw that Rhaenyra was still quite young and developing as the princess that was often called “The Realm’s Delight” due to her beauty and status. She was the only child of King Viserys, who ended up losing his wife and infant son on the same day. And because Viserys’s brother, Daemon, was never fit to wear the crown, the king named Rhaenyra as the heir to the Iron Throne upon his passing.

But while Rhaenyra may have been named heir to the Iron Throne, the one thing that her parents always told her was the fact that she had a royal duty to become a wife and a mother. That’s because the Targaryens need to make sure that they further their bloodline so that there will always be a Targaryen sitting on the Iron Throne to unite the Seven Kingdoms when Aegon the Conqueror’s prophecy becomes a reality. In that regard, Rhaenyra is eventually going to have to fulfill her royal duty of marrying someone so that she could bear a Targaryen child.

While we are still in the early portion of House of the Dragon, we know for a fact that this series is based on the book. And, save for a few changes, the series has been quite faithful to the source material. So, who does Rhaenyra marry in Fire and Blood?

In the book, Rhaenyra was offered to marry Ser Laenor of House Velaryon. The reason for the marriage was the fact that Laenor was the son of Corlys Velaryon and Rhaenys Velaryon. During that time, the Velaryons were the most powerful family in Westeros because they controlled half the royal fleet and half the dragons. In that regard, it was the correct political move to marry Rhaenyra to Laenor.

But the problem in the books was that Laenor preferred the company of men over women. Prior to his marriage with Rhaenyra, he had never been with a woman before and was always seen with men. This was what probably led to the rumors of Rhaenyra taking a lover in the form of Ser Harwyn Strong, a knight that was quite close to her. In fact, the three children that Rhaenyra and Laenor had were rumored to be sired by Harwyn because of the fact that none of them had Velaryon features.

Who Does Rhaenyra Marry In House Of The Dragon?

At this point, the series has been quite accurate as far as the events that have been chronicled in Fire and Blood. That means that it is quite possible that House of the Dragon will also follow the book in the sense that Rhaenyra will marry Laenor. However, the events that lead to this marriage might be given a more dramatic storytelling in the series, especially when it comes to the possibility of Rhaenyra becoming a political asset on the part of King Viserys.

After all, we have seen in Game of Thrones how marriage has always been a political move instead of a personal one. That’s why great houses often marry into great houses so that they could join the two houses and become even more powerful. It can be expected that, considering the fact that Rhaenyra is the chosen heir of King Viserys, there will be plenty of different lords that will try to win her over and convince her to marry them.

Nevertheless, at the end of the day, we do believe that Rhaenyra will still marry Laenor because this was one of the most important events that led to the Targaryen civil war. The fact that Rhaenyra’s children were questioned in terms of who sired them was one of the reasons why Alicent Hightower was confident enough to proclaim her son, Aegon II, as the next King of Westeros.

Of course, we do believe that Viserys will eventually convince Rhaenyra to marry Laenor because it was clear in the first episode that the crown and the Velaryons did not exactly see eye to eye on certain matters. Marrying Rhaenyra to Laenor would prove to be the best move to make to fix the relationship between the two most powerful families in the Seven Kingdoms.

Does Rhaenyra Ever Marry Daemon?

One of the things that we clearly saw at the beginning of the series was that Rhaenyra and her uncle, Daemon Targaryen, didn’t exactly see each other as mere relatives. In fact, we did see Rhaenyra being quite fond of her own uncle, and Daemon was clearly fond of Rhaenyra, as Mysaria suggested that she would get a whore with white hair for the prince. 

While this may seem taboo in the eyes of other families and in the society we live in, this was perfectly normal for the Targaryens because it was always a Valyrian custom to wed brothers and sisters so that they could keep bloodlines pure. Of course, wedding an uncle to a niece is in the same conversation, as incest was never frowned upon among the Targaryens. So, does Rhaenyra marry Daemon?

Again, if the series follows the book, then Rhaenyra will eventually marry Daemon. In Fire and Blood, Laenor Velaryon eventually dies. Meanwhile, Daemon’s own Velaryon wife dies as well. And when Aegon II was proclaimed king instead of Rhaenyra, both the princess and the prince needed to forge an alliance that allowed them to fight a common foe.

As such, Rhaenyra and Daemon eventually got married in the book and even produced children of their own. It was seen as a political move on their part so that they could make sure that they had the strength to fight Alicent’s children. Nevertheless, they were always quite fond of one another, as House of the Dragon was able to establish this in the first meeting between Rhaenyra and Daemon.