Explaining the Targaryen Family Tree from House of the Dragon

 Explaining the Targaryen Family Tree from "House of the Dragon"

It's time to head back to Westeros three years after the contentious Game of Thrones ending. However, is life there ever truly simple? On August 21, the eagerly awaited prequel House of the Dragon debuted and jammed HBO Max. Attracting millions of viewers eager to see a new period of Targaryen pranks.

In the new season, which began 172 years before Daenerys Targaryen was born. A struggle for power among the platinum-blonde clan results in an all-out civil war. Read on for our key explanation of both the House of Dragon Targaryens. And how they relate to the Thrones blondes we know and love. The complete Targaryen family tree. It is complex enough for its own book series (or at least three more spinoffs).

Visionary Daenys

Two dreamers who are essential to the Targaryens' conquest of Westeros. They are referenced in the first episode of House of the Dragon. The first is referred to as Daenys the Dreamer. She was a Targaryen nobleman's maiden daughter in Valyria. Where the family had lived before relocating to the island of Dragonstone. After having a dream that Valyria would be destroyed. Daenys persuaded their family to flee. Before, the region was obliterated by a volcanic eruption. Known as the Doom of Valyria. The few remaining Dragonriders (and only dragons) belonged to the Targaryens. Who settled on Dragonstone and inhabited it for the following century.

The conqueror Aegon.

When later, Targaryens refer to the great Aegon. They are referring to Aegon the Conqueror. The first king of Westeros founded the Targaryen dynasty. And united the realm (with the exception of Dorne and the territory beyond the Wall). Balerion, Vhagar, and Meraxes are the three dragons they got after marriage to both of his sisters. Rhaenys and Visenya. After taking control of the realm. He established King's Landing and started work on the Red Keep. And created the Iron Throne from the swords of his defeated foes. He is also the first crown in the epic new opening credits for HotD.

In addition, Rhaenyra discovers a secret. That came down via Targaryen monarchs after becoming heir. In case anyone was perplexed by the A Song of Ice and Fire reference in the HotD premiere. Aegon I's conquest of Westeros was actually motivated by a dream in which he witnessed the demise of humans, not by desire. According to the dream, a dreadful winter would descend from the far North, carrying with it a power that would obliterate the living planet.

In the dream, the White Walkers and the second Long Night were foretold, and Aegon gave down the advice that Westeros must come together to confront the threat. With the events of Game of Thrones, his prophecy ultimately came to pass centuries later.

King Jaehaerys I

A prequel to House of the Dragon introduces us to King Jaehaerys I, also known as "The OId King," who ruled the Targaryen realm with the greatest degree of tranquilly. He wed his sister Alysanne, and the two of them had fourteen kids—nine of whom survived to adulthood, and two of whom outlived him. With no clear heir, he called a Great Council to choose his successor among at least 14 candidates. In the end, his two grandchildren, Rhaenys and Viserys, won the vote.

Rhaenys, the princess

Being the daughter of Jocelyn Baratheon and Aemon, Jaehaerys' eldest son, Rhaenys, had a greater claim to the Iron Throne (an ancestor of early Thrones king Robert Baratheon). She unfortunately passes over and dubbed "The Queen Who Never Was" because she was a woman. Despite not holding the throne in House of the Dragon, the cunning royal nevertheless has an outsized effect on events, frequently plotting with her husband Corlys Velaryon, Viserys' Master of Ships.

Laena and Laenor, a son and daughter of Rhaenys and Corlys, are both characters in House of the Dragon. Laena marries Daemon Targaryen and subsequently passes away in childbirth, but Laenor weds Rhaenyra Targaryen to unite the houses.

Viserys I, King (Paddy Considine)

In "The Young King", Viserys, the fifth Targaryen ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, has so far presided over a time of tranquilly. As the realm prospers, the Targaryen dynasty and their dragons are at the height of their power. As of the start of HotD, Viserys and his cousin Aemma Arryn have one daughter together, Rhaenyra. Viserys was expecting a son when Aemma became pregnant with her second child in the series opener, but by the end of the episode, the king has neither a queen nor a male heir.

Viserys marries Alicent Hightower as his second wife as a result of the schemes of his Hand Otto Hightower. The couple has four children as of Episode 6, and Viserys has come of age into an elderly king who will not live much longer (it's miraculous he survives the ten-year time leap). He acquires the name Viserys the Peaceful after passing away from leprosy at the conclusion of Episode 8.

Empress Emma (Sian Brooke)

In the first episode of the HotD series, Aemma, the mother of Rhaenyra and the first wife of King Viserys I, perished during childbirth (and deserved so much more). She was a loving mother to Rhaenyra, but due to labour pains, she was unable to give birth to a male heir. Fun trivia: Her maiden name was Aemma Arryn; her mother was Viserys' aunt, making the two of them first cousins; and she was a distant ancestor of Jon Arryn, whose death resulted in Ned Stark being named Hand of the King and everything that followed in Game of Thrones.

Daemon the Prince

Daemon also referred to as "The Rogue Prince," is King Viserys' younger brother and the heir apparent at the beginning of HotD. He's a haughty, conceited jerk who thinks he'd make a better king than his brother. Additionally, he has a lot of allies (particularly among the City Watch) and enemies. He was with a mistress by the name of Mysaria and was unhappily in a wedding to Rhea Royce of the Vale in the film's premiere.

Rhea Royce's official death from a fall from her horse puts a stop to Daemon and Rhea Royce's marriage shortly after his second exile from the Red Keep. (Daemon apparently kills her, as there are stromg hints.) He has twin daughters, Baela and Rhaena, from his second marriage to Laena Velaryon. By the end of Episode 6, Laena's death from Dragonfire while giving birth to a stillborn child has left him a single parent. Then, he marries someone else for the third time.

Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock, then Emma D'Arcy)

Young Rhaenyra, referred to as "The Realm's Delight," is a loving daughter, an accomplished dragon rider, and a developing strategist. If she weren't a woman. She would be the heir since she is the sole child of the monarch. However, Viserys chooses to crown her as his successor despite not letting Daemon succeed him. This controversial decision makes her the closest monarch to the Iron Throne until Rhaenyra's great-great-great-great-granddaughter Daenerys.

The HotD storyline jumps ahead ten years in episode 6, at which point Milly Alcock, who played a young Rhaenyra in that episode, left, and Emma D'Arcy took over (Olivia Cooke replaced Emily Carey as Alicent Hightower in that episode).

Conclusion:

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