Rhaenyra's eleven year-old son, Aegon the Younger, was crowned king, and married to Aegon II's daughter and only remaining child, Jaehaera Targaryen, uniting the claims.
Although he reclaims the capital, Aegon II Targaryen never sits the Iron Throne again after Rhaenyra's death. As such, the next character to sit on the Iron Throne after Rhaenyra is her son King Aegon III Targaryen, who was introduced in House of the Dragon season 1, episode 8.
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. It ate her while her son watched. What's left of her is buried in the crypts right down there.”
The loss of all their current dragons made Rhaenyra flee the capital, taking her (believed to be) last remaining child to Dragonstone, not realizing Aegon's forces had already taken over the castle. She was brought to her brother Aegon II, who branded her a traitor of the realm. She was executed by his command.
172 AC - 184 AC. Aegon IV Targaryen became the 11th king when his father, Viserys II, passed away from a mysterious illness.
Nonetheless, Rhaenyra and Daemon's youngest son becomes King Viserys II Targaryen, with the crown passing through his line. New episodes of House of the Dragon release Sundays on HBO/HBO Max.
In Fire and Blood by George R.R. Martin, Rhaenyra does indeed take the Iron Throne and become queen over the Seven Kingdoms, however, her reign is short-lived. Given how much House of the Dragon has been diverging from the source material, nothing is really certain about what will make it into the final cut.
During their walk, Joffrey stops at one point to show her the final resting place of Rhaenyra Targaryen, who's now long dead. "Rhaenyra Targaryen was murdered by her brother, or rather his dragon," says Joffrey. "It ate her while her son watched. What's left of her is buried in the crypts right down there."
Rhaenyra, unfortunately, dies a premature death shortly after her brief stint on the Iron Throne. Upon bartering passage back to Dragonstone, she was betrayed by an ally of hers, Ser Alfred Broome.
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.
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. Not only that, but Rhaenyra and Damon literally had sex on the beach.
Eventually, it's Daemon and Rhaenyra's two sons who end up sitting on the Iron Throne, but is that for a future series? The Velaryons survive, but in recent years Ser Corlys has come to support the Greens, after falling out with Rhaenyra and being accused of treason (unfairly).
As Joffrey tells us, eventually, Rhaenyra's half-brother Aegon Targaryen will feed her to his dragon Sunfyre. She dies as her son, Aegon III, watches.
Daemon strangled Rhaenyra because he felt betrayed by Viserys. “It's a moment that I think is surprising and shocking for Daemon as a character, but I also think it's one of those things that's been set up over the course of the entire season.
Alas, the baby did not survive and while it wasn't shown very well on camera, there were debates among fans whether the baby was normal-looking or deformed.
Rhaenyra Targaryen Takes the Iron Throne, but Only For a Moment. While the Green forces were away from King's Landing, they foolishly left the capital sparsely protected. That allowed Rhaenyra and Daemon to easily take the city, where she sat on the Iron Throne for half-a-year.
So, who is the real father of Rhaenyra's children? In the show and in George R.R. Martin's Fire and Blood novel, it is heavily implied that Ser Harwin Strong, a knight and the captain of the City's Watch, is the true father of Jacaerys, Lucerys, and Joffrey.
Rhaenrya takes the news of her son's death none too well. The look she gives the camera upon Daemon delivering the news suggests she is ready to burn Alicent's family alive. The Season 1 finale was named “The Black Queen,” and it seems that Rhaenyra is finally ready to take on that title.
Is Daenerys Targaryen related to Rhaenyra? Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones is a distant descendent of Rhaenyra Targaryen, who she has been compared to in House of the Dragon.
In the book, Visenya was described as being born with dragon-like defects, including scales, a tail, and a twisted body. Rhaenyra's baby did end up having scale-like defects and a malformed body in House of the Dragon, which aligns with the occasional reports of Targaryen women bearing dragon-like stillborn children.
Milly Alcock and Emily Carey have departed the House of the Dragon franchise, handing over the Rhaenyra and Alicent batons to Emily D'Arcy and Olivia Cooke respectively. Fans who have been loving Alcock and Carey's portrayal of the friends-turned-enemies will have truly been gutted.
King Viserys dies at age 52, having reigned over Westeros for 26 years. Princess Rhaenyra rules as Queen Rhaenyra for about half a year on the Iron Throne. As many of her children are killed, she flees King's Landing after a riot known as the Storming of the Dragonpit, and is eventually caught.
Aegon III, aka Aegon the Younger: Rhaenyra and Daemon's first child together.