Rhaenyra Targaryen – The Rightful Queen of Westeros Explained
Rhaenyra’s unconventional succession caused one of the deadliest wars in history and nearly brought Westeros to its knees.
The Iron Throne is the most coveted (and uncomfortable) chair in all of Westeros. Throughout the Game of Thrones series, aspirants from across the Seven Kingdoms fought to claim it. However, centuries before the Starks crossed blades with the Lannisters and Jon Snow knew nothing, a familial civil war occurred. Rhaenyra Targaryen, daughter of Viserys I and his named heir, fought tradition and her half-siblings for control of Westeros. She may have died a traitor’s death, but many believe her claim was proper. Here’s the lowdown on Westeros’s “rightful” queen, Rhaenyra Targaryen, Queen of the Blacks.
Rhaenyra Targaryen’s Childhood
Rhaenyra was the only child of King Viserys I Targaryen and his first wife, Lady Aemma of House Arryn. She had two brothers, but both died in the cradle. From an early age, Rhaenyra distinguished herself from other princesses of the Realm. By age seven, she was already an accomplished dragonrider, riding the dragon Syrax and notably being her only rider. Just a year later, Rhaenyra became her father’s cupbearer; from then on, they were seldom separated.
Rhaenyra was enamored with her uncle, Prince Daemon Targaryen. He returned her affections and brought her exotic gifts from his travels. Many believed there was more than familial affection between them. When the knight Ser Criston Cole defeated Daemon in a tournament, he presented his laurel to the young Rhaenyra and requested her favor in the lists. Rhaenyra’s affections quickly shifted to him, and Viserys allowed Cole to be her personal guardian. From that point on, he was always her guardian in public places and wore her favor when he competed.
When she was eight, shortly after becoming Viserys’s cupbearer, Rhaenyra’s mother Aemma died giving birth to her second brother, who also died shortly after. With the death of Aemma and no surviving male heir, Viserys named Rhaenyra his heir. He commanded all the lords of the Seven Kingdoms to swear fealty to her and uphold her succession. In addition, he named her Princess of Dragonstone, giving her sovereignty in the South.
The Greens and the Blacks
Shortly after Lady Aemma’s death, Viserys remarried the young Alicent Hightower. At first, the relationship between Alicent and Rhaenyra was cordial, and the two quickly became friends. However, that all changed when Alicent gave birth to Aegon Targaryen a year after the marriage and Aemond a few years later. Though many expected Viserys to shift his heir to one of his sons, the king did not do so. Many of the lords began to push Viserys to relent, even his hand and Alicent’s father Otto Hightower. After Viserys banished Otto, two factions began to form: those who supported the queen and her sons, and those who supported the princess Rhaenyra.
King’s Landing hosted a grand tournament on the fifth anniversary of Viserys’s marriage to Alicent. Alicent arrived in a stunning green dress, honoring her Hightower lineage. Rhaenyra, on the other hand, attended in a stark black dress, honoring the Targaryen bloodline. Their choice of garb led to the two nascent factions being named the Greens and the Blacks. This moniker would stick for many years, and became the naming convention for the two sides of the Dance of Dragons war.
Rhaenyra Targaryen: Princess of Dragonstone
At age 16, Rhaenyra left King’s Landing to take control of Dragonstone. Many suitors fought for her hand, perhaps because of her legendary beauty or possibly to gain control of the Seven Kingdoms. Lannisters, Freys, Brackens, and Blackwoods all fought for her hand. Her favor, however, lingered most on Ser Criston and Ser Harwin Strong, son of Lord Lionel Strong. King Viserys even considered wedding her to Prince Qorne Martel to bring Dorne under his rule. Her stepmother Alicent, hoping to keep the Targaryen line pure and rekindle her wavering friendship, plotted to marry Rhaenyra to her eldest son, Rhaenyra’s half-brother Aegon.
In the end, however, Laenor Velaryon wins her hand. At first, Rhaenyra opposes the marriage, allegedly saying, “My half-brothers would be more to his taste.” However, when Viserys threatens to remove her as heir if she doesn’t marry, she acquiesces. At the wedding tournament, Criston Cole mortally wounded Laenor’s rumored lover, Joffery Lonmouth. Laenor spent most of his time at his family home of High Tide, while Rhaenyra remained at court. There, she grew close to Laena Velaryon, Laenor’s sister and the wife of Daemon.
Laenor and Rhaenyra have three children together: Princes Jacerys (Jace), Lucerys (Luke), and Joffery Velaryon. However, their “common” features, like brown hair and eyes, led many to believe that they were fathered by Harwin Strong, Rhaenyra’s lover. To dispel rumors of their parentage, King Viserys gifted them each a dragon egg for their crib. Those who doubted them claimed that they would never hatch, as only a true Targaryen could hatch an egg. However, all three hatched, and Rhaenyra’s sons became dragonriders.
Rhaenyra and Daemon
Years later, when Rhaenyra was 23, Laena Velaryon died after a failed birth. At her funeral, a fight broke out when Aemond and Aegon accused Luke and Jace of being bastards. The fight turned violent, and Luke cut out Aemond’s eye with a knife. Queen Alicent demanded his eye be cut out in return. King Viserys instead reprimanded them, demanding to know where Aemond had heard the rumor. He put out a royal decree calling for anyone who spread the rumor of the Princes’ parentage to have their tongues put out.
Harwin Strong returned to his family home of Harrenhall, but it mysteriously caught fire, killing Harwin and his father. Later that year, Rhaenyra’s husband Laenor also died, apparently killed in a quarrel with his lover Ser Qarl Correy. House of the Dragon shows a different story: Laenor and Qarl flee across the sea while a servant’s body is used to stage his death.
Not long after, Rhaenyra and Daemond married in secret, likely to prevent Viserys from forbidding it. However, when the king heard of the union, he was furious, calling the wedding an insult to the memories of the dead. It was many years before the brothers made peace. The year ended with Daemon and Rhaenyra welcoming their first son, Aegon the Younger, and a few years later, another son was born, Viserys, named after the King and Rhaenyra’s father.
The Dance of Dragons
Four years later, Rhaenyra argued that Lucerys should be named heir of Driftmark. Though many lesser Velaryons protested, calling Rhaenyra’s sons bastards, King Viserys maintained her claim. He called for those who had spoken against her child to have their tongues put out, as he had decreed.
However, as he rose to return to his chamber, he slipped and cut his hand to the bone on the Iron Throne. Though the Maesters tried to heal him, the King developed a severe fever, and many thought he would die. It wasn’t until Rhaenyra sent her own Maester to tend to him that he recovered, though he remained weakened.
King Viserys maintained that Rhaenyra would be his heir, all the way up to his death. When he died, Rhaenyra was on Dragonstone awaiting the birth of her sixth child. Rather than informing her of his death, Otto Hightower named her son Aegon as the next king. The Greens made sure news of the King’s death didn’t reach Rhaenyra until her allies in the Red Keep were either dead or imprisoned.
When she found out, she was furious, and entered early labor. Her daughter, Visenya, was born deformed and stillborn. The Blacks had a coronation to name Rhaenyra queen. When the Greens heard of this, they offered to allow Rhaenyra to remain queen of Dragonstone, if she renounced the throne. She refused, and the Targaryen civil war known as The Dance of Dragons began.
Rhaenyra Targaryen, Queen of Westeros?
Though we know whether or not Rhaenyra will be successful in her war against the Greens, we don’t want to spoil the rest of HBO’s House of the Dragon. While we wait for the next season, ask yourself: who deserves the Iron Throne?
