In the seventh episode of the blockbuster HBO series, Prince Daemon marries his own niece, Princess Rhaenyra. The incestuous romance had been building for some time. Before a 10-year time jump occurred in the show's sixth epsode, Daemon took a young Rhaenyra to a brothel in King's Land where the two got intimate.
The romance that has long been teased in “House of the Dragon” is finally official. The seventh episode of HBO's “Game of Thrones” prequel starts with a funeral and ends with the wedding of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and her uncle Daemon.
In 120 AC at the age of thirty-nine, Daemon married again, this time to his niece, Rhaenyra Targaryen, the twenty-three-year-old Princess of Dragonstone.
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.
Aegon III, aka Aegon the Younger: Rhaenyra and Daemon's first child together.
The episode doesn't really beat around the bush when revealing that Harwin Strong (Ryan Corr) is the father of Rhaenyra's children. He's there soon after baby Joffrey is born so he can meet him, and later on in the episode Jacaerys (Leo Hart) even asks his mom if Harwin is his real dad.
The shock of the loss of her father, combined with the Greens' ruthless betrayal sends her into early labor. Without modern medicine, a baby born so early had very little chance of survival in the best of circumstances - and in these terrible conditions the baby, a girl named Visenya, is stillborn.
While House Of The Dragon episode 4 showed Daemon was able to seduce Rhaenyra by kissing and undressing her, he couldn't fulfill the act due to impotence.
We last saw her find out the truth in "We Light the Way" that Rhaenyra lost her virginity to Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel).
Later, in episode seven, Daemon tells Rhaenyra that he and Laena were "happy enough" in their marriage. In that regard, there was far more love between Daemon and Laena than there ever was between him and Rhea, even if it wasn't entirely romantic.
1 Daemon Probably Loves Rhaenyra
However, Fire & Blood gives some insights into Daemon's character, which House of the Dragon only touches on in the last episodes of Season 1. Daemon shows his genuine care and attention to Rhaenyra several times before the two marry.
We know that while the two came close, they never actually did the deed. Daemon, thrown off by his lack of ability to shock Rhaenyra, left her to get drunk and pass out. While Rhaenyra did go on to sleep with Criston Cole — the big problem of the episode — Viserys (Paddy Considine) was made more cautious of Daemon.
Daemon and Rhaenyra share two children together: Aegon III and Viserys II.
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.
Her next child whom she's now pregnant with, however, will be a different story. In House of the Dragon episode 8, Rhaenyra Targaryen is pregnant with her daughter Visenya. Despite Rhaenyra and Daemon's excitement over having another child, their daughter will tragically never take a breath of air.
Daemon and Rhaenyra also marry against the wishes of Rhaenyra's father, the king, although Viserys begrudgingly accepts the pairing after realizing they share a genuine affection. Together they have two children, Aegon III and Viserys II Targaryen, and Daemon supports Rhaenyra until the bitter end.
It is only after this realization that Rhaenyra makes her first move on Daemon, instigating with a kiss after she affirms to him that she is no longer a child.
With him, she found a love so deep it filled the void in her heart, not to mention her womb. In 196 AC, the year of their marriage, she painstakingly produced a set of twins, Aegon and Aella.
Although she has married another and had other lovers, she clearly has a crush on her uncle, whom she secretly marries (after becoming a widow and mistress). Initially married to Rhea Royce, whom he kills to be free, he marries Laena Velaryon, with whom he has two daughters and lives well.
“Ultimately, his impotence in this scene is a reflection of the fact that he knows deep down what he's doing isn't right,” House of the Dragon executive producer and showrunner Miguel Sapochnik said.
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.
Nothing ever happened between the kingsguard and the princess. Whereas in HOTD we are shown that Criston and Rhaenyra did indeed have sex, and as you know, Martin had more creative control in HOTD.
Rhaenyra is Daemon's niece, as the daughter of his older brother, King Viserys I. The two also are brother- and sister-in-law through their earlier marriages. Rhaenyra's first marriage is to Laenor Velaryon, while Daemon's second wife is Laenor's sister, Laena.
When finally did give birth to the baby, it is said that the child had a hole where her heart should have been, a tail, and scales for skin—a monster, as her mother had cursed her to be.
Rhaenyra does everything to prevent war, until the end
The funeral and cremation for Rhaenyra's stillborn child, with her husband Daemon (Matt Smith) at her side, turns into her coronation.