In Fire & Blood we are told that Lady Rhea Royce “fell from her horse while hawking and cracked her skull upon a stone. She lingered for nine days before finally feeling well enough to leave her bed… only to collapse and die within an hour of rising.”
Second marriage
Daemon's wife, Rhea Royce, died from falling from a horse in 115 AC. Daemon abandoned the Stepstones and flew to the Vale of Arryn to claim Runestone, which had been Rhea's seat, but he was refused by House Royce.
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.
Rhea dies after an apparent riding accident, and Daemon is unwelcome in her home of the Vale afterward. "House of the Dragon" gives more insight into Rhea's death.
Daemon only knows how to get his way through violence, and since Rhaenyra has the power to ascend the Iron Throne and not himself, he chokes her out of envy, desperation, and anger that she's impeding his plans for revenge.
Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) and Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) finally had sex on House of the Dragon. After teasing their deep connection for weeks, making out in a brothel, and flirting their way through King's Landing, uncle and niece at long last did the dirty.
While this is a revelation in and of itself, this sequence also highlights the truth of Daemon and Rhaenyra - he is an abuser and she is his victim, albeit perhaps one who does not see herself as a victim.
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.
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.
Daemon and Laena go on to have two children, Baela and Rhaena, who they later arrange to marry two of Rhaenyra and Laenor's sons. Sadly, Laena dies in childbirth along with her and Daemon's third child, a baby boy.
It was clear that Leana and Laenor had a close relationship, and she likely would not appreciate her uncle choosing this moment to make a statement while her brother grieves. Daemon laughs at this moment because Vaemond is choosing this moment to guilt Rhaenyra for having children with Harwin Strong (Ryan Corr).
Aegon II's quick but viscerally brutal slaying of Queen Rhaenyra doesn't seem to do her justice.
As the two dragons struggled in the Battle Above the Gods Eye, Daemon plunged from Caraxes, wielding his sword Dark Sister and stabbing it into Aemond's remaining eye. Both dragons crashed into the Gods Eye, and Vhagar drowned with Aemond's body still chained to the saddle while Caraxes died on the shore.
Despite Rhaenyra and Daemon's excitement over having another child, their daughter will tragically never take a breath of air. Upon hearing the news of King Viserys' death and Aegon seizing the Iron Throne and being crowned King, Rhaenyra goes into dangerously premature labor.
Before Rhea can draw her bow, Daemon makes the horse rear up and fall back, crushing Rhea. She's paralyzed.
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.
Daemon has admitted that he has no interest in his wife, claiming that she bores him. Daemon attempts to seduce his niece, Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock), and proposes to Viserys that they are wed. He insists that Targaryens have married within their bloodline for generations.
Despite Daemon and Daenerys being in love, her brother the king, Daeron the Good, was more concerned with matters of state than matters of love. There had been many years of fighting with Dorne, and failure to bring them into the Seven Kingdoms while not being able to keep them from harassing the Seven Kingdoms.
It is well known that Dameon is in love with Rhaenyra. But his love was not restricted to her. He was an ambitious man who thought of himself as more deserving of the throne; he wanted that as well, in the pursuit of which his feelings for his niece were just a means to an end.
We last saw her find out the truth in "We Light the Way" that Rhaenyra lost her virginity to Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel).
After berating Daemon for “abandoning” her to marry the now-deceased Laena Velaryon, Rhaenyra makes it clear that she has feelings for her uncle and wishes to strengthen her position in Westeros by marrying him. The pair then have sex.
In "King of the Narrow Sea", Rhaenyra seduced Ser Criston after she herself was denied by her uncle Daemon (Matt Smith). She and her paramour spent the night together, and she was warm towards Ser Criston afterward.
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.
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.
Daemon, unaware of Viserys' prophecy, chokes Rhaenyra, saying that dragons, and thereby violence, are what gives House Targaryen its might.