The Fantasy Review’s brief history of Rhaenyra Targaryen.
If you don’t want SPOILERS for the House of the Dragon TV show, please don’t read this spoiler-filled history of Rhaenyra Targaryen!
Known as The Realm’s Delight as a young girl, Rhaenyra Targaryen was the first born child of Viserys I Targaryen. She was the only one of her mother’s children to survive childhood, and was named heir by her father when she was eight years-old.
Princess of Dragonstone
Rhaenyra had silver-gold hair she wore in a braid, and dressed in golden Myrish lace and purple/maroon velvets. As heir to the throne, it is no surprise no expense was spared on her clothing, from the pearls and diamonds that sparkled on her clothes, to the rings on her fingers.
Prince Daemon Targaryen, her uncle, once pronounced that Rhaenyra was the most beautiful maiden in the Seven Kingdoms. She was fourteen.
At seven years-old, she became a dragonrider with a young dragon she named Syrax. When she was eight, she became a cupbearer for her father and learned much about the day-to-day life of the monarch.
In 106 AC, King Viserys remarried to Lady Alicent Hightower and they had two sons, Aegon and Aemond, and a daughter, Helaena. The King refused to comment upon or change his mind about Rhaenyra being his heir, causing a rift to open between those at court loyal to the Queen (Alicent) and the Princess (Rhaenyra). These two groups were known as the “Greens” and the “Blacks”, respectively.
In 113 AC, Rhaenyra took possession of Dragonstone, and a year later she married Ser Laenor Velaryon. She had no interest in marriage, and had had many suitors (including Alicent’s son, Aegon), but was eventually pressured into accepting Laenor as a husband.
Despite this, Laenor and Rhaenyra had three sons: Jacaerys, Lucerys, and Joffrey Velaryon. All three were born with brown hair and brown eyes, causing rumours to spread that they were in fact the bastard sons of Harwin Strong.
Civil War: Dance of the Dragons
Laenor died in a fight with Qarl Correy (his rumoured lover), and less than six months later, Rhaenyra married her uncle, Prince Daemon. She was now 23 and he was 39. They had two sons in quick succession, both born with purple eyes and silver hair, called Aegon (the Younger), and Viserys, after the King.
King Viserys I Targaryen died in 129 AC, three years after he cut his hand to the bone on the Iron Throne. Rhaenyra was still his named heir, as was written on his will, however Aegon II was crowned instead (Alicent’s eldest son). At this time, Rhaenyra still resided on Dragonstone, and when she heard the news she went into early labour and delivered a stillborn daughter, Visenya.
This betrayal was the start of the Dance of the Dragons, the Targaryen civil war, so called because dragons were forced to fight one another. Rhaenyra was initially offered Dragonstone by the usurpers in King’s Landing, but she refused to give up her inheritance.
The Dance of the Dragons was not a long conflict, and soon it seemed like Rhaenyra was the victor. She took the Iron Throne and set about punishing those who had helped the usurpers.
Her time there would not be long though. The Greens had moved all the money out of the city before her arrival, and the population turned against her. The fleet of House Velaryon abandoned her and she became paranoid and unlikable.
Things came to a head when Helaena Targaryen committed suicide, causing a riot to break out in King’s Landing when the smallfolk believed Rhaenyra had killed her. In the riots, Joffrey Velaryon was killed and Rhaenyra was forced to flee.
She managed to return to Dragonstone, but was betrayed by Ser Alfred Broome. Aegon II then fed her to his dragon Sunfyre at Dragonstone.
The Legacy of Rhaenyra Targaryen
Of all her children, only Rhaenyra’s sons with Prince Daemon survived the Dance of the Dragons. When Aegon II died in 131 AC with no heirs of his own, Aegon III took the throne. The crown later was passed to Viserys II, Rhaenyra’s other son, as none of Aegon III’s children survived.
In the accounts of her life, Rhaenyra Targaryen is often painted as a usurper to the throne. Maesters tell of how the throne rejected her, cutting her constantly, and how fat and greedy she became during her measly year on the Iron Throne. However, others see a rightful heir to a stolen crown, just trying to take back what is her’s.
