Daemon implores Rhaenyra to take back her birthright, but Rhaenyra says her duty stretches beyond the Iron Throne, citing the Song of Ice and Fire. Having no idea what Rhaenyra is talking about, Daemon chokes her after she elaborates on Aegon's dream in House of the Dragon's finale.
While Daemon and Rhaenyra have been circling each other for quite some time, the finale revealed a darker and more toxic aspect of their relationship when, arguing over how to proceed against Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney), Daemon chokes Rhaenyra in order to get his point across.
Turns out, Rhaenyra and Daemon are endgame, meaning they have a sexually tense relationship, eventually hook up, and get married—which is pretty significant from a power play perspective considering (1) they both want the throne and (2) their Targaryen union is almost sure to guarantee that happens—even though Alicent ...
In the finale, there's a particular scene where Daemon and Rhaenyra have a rift and he holds her by the neck, after hearing about the prophecy that Viserys told her and not him. Ryan Condal, executive producer of the HBO show, explained to Variety the reason behind the scene.
So Rhaenyra bringing up a prophecy as the reason why she doesn't want to go to war, especially as we established that Daemon does not believe in them makes him so furious that he lashes out and chokes her.
According to the accounts of Septon Eustace, prior to her turning sixteen, Rhaenyra lost her virginity to her uncle, Prince Daemon, after he seduced her.
We last saw her find out the truth in "We Light the Way" that Rhaenyra lost her virginity to Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel).
Rhaenyra's first marriage is to Laenor Velaryon, while Daemon's second wife is Laenor's sister, Laena. Daemon is, of course, younger than Rhaenyra's father Viserys, but he's still significantly older than her: in the books, there's a 16-year age gap between Rhaenyra and Daemon.
Daemon seduces Rhaenyra in such a way to cast aspersions on her virtue so that Viserys has no choice but to let him wed his niece, Targaryen style.
He chokes Rhaenyra after she starts telling him The Song of Ice and Fire prophecy and learning that Viserys kept secrets from him. Perhaps Daemon's attack was motivated by this perceived betrayal? Part of it also may be related to his dislike of Viserys weakness.
After Daemon's first wife dies, he gets together with Laena Velaryon—who was initially suggested as a bride for King Viserys. They have two daughters. Meanwhile, Rhaenyra marries Laena's brother, Laenor Velaryon, and they have several kids.
Since Daemon's body was never recovered from the Gods Eye, singers say that he lived to spend the rest of his days in secret with Nettles. Daemon never achieved his ambition to sit on the Iron Throne, though his sons Aegon III and Viserys II eventually did.
Daemon and Rhaenyra share two children together: Aegon III and Viserys II.
The moment happens in season 3, episode 4, “And Now His Watch Is Ended,” when Joffrey Lannister is chilling with Margaery Tyrell and giddily explains, “Rhaenyra Targaryen was murdered by her brother, or rather, his dragon.
The Old Valyrian Custom
This is presumably to keep their wedding a secret, although all of their children are in attendance. In the Old Valyrian custom, both the bride and groom cut each other's lips with a fine blade of dragonglass. Daemon cuts his hand, so their blood can mix together.
Daemon chokes Rhaenyra because he's angry, because he feels she's making the wrong decision, and probably even because she reminds him of his late brother.
She also comments, "I knew you couldn't finish," which references Daemon's sexual dysfunction — as we've seen, he had trouble with losing his erection with both Mysaria and Rhaenyra.
In the show, there isn't any romantic love between them. Daemon uses Rhaenyra for her position, and by being the first man to be intimate with her, he ensures that no other man would want to marry her. In the books, however, Rhaenyra was in love with Daemon and had always been besotted with him.
There are two elements that explain why Daemon doesn't sleep with Rhaenyra; that Daemon knew what he is doing is wrong, and that Daemon's affection for Rhaenyra kept him from taking it too far by sleeping with her - but he still takes advantage of the situation by trying to gain power and the Iron Throne through ...
That's right, during the Oct. 2 episode of House of the Dragon, Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) and Daemon (Matt Smith) stopped fighting their feelings for one another and finally got together. However, this was more than just an illicit liaison, as Rhaenyra and Daemon got married at the end of the episode.
This marks a significant change from the book, which states that Rhaenyra was born in 97 AC, and would be only 9 years old when her father marries Alicent. Milly Alcock, who plays young Rhaenyra, is 22. As of the mid-season time jump, Rhaenyra is aged up to 27, then—as of episode 8—to 33.
A sordid and controversial story began to spread that Rhaenyra lost her virginity to her uncle Daemon at age 16. No one knows if that is true. But Targaryens had long married within the family to keep their bloodlines pure. And King Viserys did exile his brother shortly after.
Back in her chambers, Rhaenyra's gaze lands on the handsome Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel). After some initial reluctance by Criston, who has much more on the line as a lowborn member of the Kingsguard, Rhaenyra playfully seduces her long-standing crush and they have sex.
Jacaerys, Rhaenyra's eldest son, and his two younger brothers have spent their short lives surrounded by whispers that their real father was Ser Harwin Strong.
No. Despite marrying Laena out of pure interest, he actually respected her, was faithful to her, and might have even loved her. Also, Rhaenyra loved Laena, they had a beautiful friendship.