The second half of season 1 of House of the Dragon was all about the legacies of Princess Rhaenyra and Queen Alicent, as we got to see their children in their adult and teen years. One of the children that were able to garner a lot of attention when his teenage version was shown was Prince Jacaerys Velaryon, who seemed to have been able to distinguish himself from all of his brothers. So, who is Prince Jacaerys Velaryon in House of the Dragon?
Played by young actor Harry Collet, Jacaerys “Jace” Velaryon is the eldest son of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen with Ser Laenor Velaryon but is said to have been sired by Ser Harwin Strong instead. Jace, as the eldest son of Rhaenyra, is the designated heir of the princess once she assumes the Iron Throne.
Prince Jacaerys’s entire person may be in question throughout the entire series because of the rumors that he was sired by Ser Harwin and not Ser Laenor. This only added more fuel to the fire that has been steadily burning through House Targaryen the entire series. Of course, like all of the others, Jace will get caught in the flames of war as well. Now, let’s get to know more about Jacaerys Velaryon.
Who Is Prince Jacaerys Velaryon In House Of The Dragon?
The first half of season 1 of House of the Dragon focused more on the events surrounding the lives of the younger versions of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and Queen Alicent Hightower. Formerly the best of friends, the gap between them started to widen when they eventually realized that they had to live different lives. Of course, Alicent also saw Rhaenyra as someone that wasn’t worthy of the Iron Throne. As such, she vowed to find a way to destroy her image while also working her son, Aegon, up the succession ladder.
Meanwhile, the second half, which allowed us to see a huge ten-year time skip between episodes 5 and 6, was able to highlight the lives of the children of both Rhaenyra and Alicent. On top of that, the six-year gap between episodes 7 and 8 allowed us to see just how much the children have grown as they were already adults and teenagers. After all, almost 20 years had passed since the first episode of House of the Dragon.
In that regard, one of the teenagers that we saw during episode 8 was Jacaerys Velaryon, who we met earlier in episode 6 during his pre-teen years while he was living in King’s Landing and growing up together with the other kids. So, who is Prince Jacaerys Velaryon?
Prince Jacaerys Velaryon, played by the young Harry Collet, is the eldest son of Princess Rhaenyra during her marriage with Ser Laenor Velaryon. He is nicknamed Jace and is actually Rhaenyra’s heir to the Iron Throne when she assumes her rightful place as the queen of the Seven Kingdoms.
However, the problem in relation to Jace is that he is seen as a bastard by everyone in the Seven Kingdoms except for King Viserys Targaryen and Lord Corlys Velaryon. Even though he was born during the time when Rhaenyra was married to Laenor, he and his brothers were seen as products of the affair between his mother and Ser Harwin Strong. On top of that, everyone knew that Laenor preferred the company of men over women and that only added suspicion in relation to Jace’s paternity.
Rhaenyra never admitted it outright, but it was always heavily implied that all of her children, including Jace, were sired by Harwin. As such, she and her sons were constantly under attack by the different politicians and power-hungry people in the Seven Kingdoms because of this.
What Is Prince Jacaerys Velaryon’s Role In House Of The Dragon?
At this point, it is tough to say what Prince Jacaerys Velaryon’s role will be in House of the Dragon, considering that the showrunners have changed a few things here and there. But what is clear is that Jace will play a role in the upcoming Dance of the Dragons, which is the Targaryen civil war between Rhaenyra’s Blacks and Alicent’s Greens.
Of course, we’ve seen Jace in several scenes already. He trained with his uncles Aegon and Aemond during their childhood years while they were still living in King’s Landing. In fact, Jace trained with Aegon and his younger brother Lucerys in relation to how to handle a dragon. They also trained together as swordsmen, although he was never the best among the children when it came to fighting.
Jace was also involved in the fight that took Aemond’s eye out. Aemond was about to crush Jace’s head with a rock during the scuffle, but Luke took Aemond’s eye with a quick slash to the face using the knife that Jace brought to the fight.
After that, Jace and his family returned to Dragonstone, where he spent the next six years working his way up as the heir to Rhaenyra’s throne. He was first seen as a teenager when he was trying to learn how to speak High Valyrian. After that, he and his family returned to King’s Landing because there was a petition in relation to who deserved to become heir of Driftmark because Lord Corlys Velaryon suffered grave wounds in the war in the Stepstones.
Jacaerys was also betrothed to Baela Targaryen as part of the agreement between Princess Rhaenyra and Princess Rhaenys to join the two houses together. After that, he was seen eating one final supper together with the entire Targaryen family, in what was apparently King Viserys Targaryen’s final meal with House Targaryen.
During that dinner scene, Prince Aegon was constantly pestering Jace about whether or not he had any experience with women at all. Aegon even disrespected Baela with an indecent proposal, and this angered Jace due to the fact that his betrothed was being disrespected in front of him.
However, considering that the occasion was supposed to be one that was joyous because it was a moment for the families to finally bury the hatchet, Jace became the bigger person by raising his cup in honor of Princes Aegon and Aemond, who he said he enjoyed his shared childhood with when he was still living in King’s Landing.
In what was his final act of being the bigger person, he asked Helaena Targaryen, who was Aegon’s sister wife, for a dance because he knew that she never enjoyed her time being married to her older brother. And it was clear that Helaena was happy dancing with Jace.
But when Aemond decided to bring up the issue regarding Rhaenyra’s children’s paternity, Jace was angered as he attacked his uncle, only to get shoved out of the way by the better warrior. The issue was about to escalate if it weren’t for the guards and for Daemon, who intimidated Aemond.
In this regard, it is quite obvious that while the families tried to bury the hatchet in that dinner scene, there were still wounds that were never going to heal. That means that it is inevitable that Jace and his brothers will clash with their uncles in the upcoming Targaryen civil war.
