What Does Daemon Targaryen Really Want? In
The unpredictable Daemon has always been someone who seeks excitement, with the character quickly becoming bored in what he may perceive as monotony. As such, it shouldn't be too surprising that Daemon would stray outside his marriage to find pleasures with women like Mysaria, A.K.A. the White Worm.
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.
If some are still questioning why Daemon would choke Rhaenyra and ignore her painful cries during birth, all one has to do is look at his violent past, including how he treated his past wives. Daemon's first wife was Lady Rhea of House Royce, whom he previously made abundantly clear that he had no love for.
Daemon shows his genuine care and attention to Rhaenyra several times before the two marry. This doesn't take away from the many destructive and inappropriate parts of their relationship, but the books imply that Daemon does love Rhaenyra.
While Daemon and Rhaenyra never actually slept together (though she did secretly lose her virginity to Ser Criston Cole that night), the now banished Daemon Targaryen refuses to disprove the accusation.
Laena and Daemon marry soon after. Laena and Daemon were a power couple, and their marriage was celebrated by nearly all of Westeros and Essos — except for King Viserys and his court, who considered it another sign of Daemon's disrespect.
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.
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.
“When the babe at last came forth, she proved indeed a monster: a stillborn girl, twisted and malformed, with a hole in her chest where her heart should have been and a stubby, scaled tail. The dead girl had been named Visenya. “
Or, at least, his little dragon knows something his brain doesn't. According to co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik, in a featurette that aired after the episode: “Ultimately, his impotence in the scene is a reflection of the fact that he knows, deep down, that what he's doing isn't right.”
The story of the princess and her valiant knight did not end as a fairy tale, though. 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.
In George R.R. Martin's fictitious history of the Targaryen family, we learn that Rhaenyra does eventually have children with her uncle Daemon: two boys named Viserys II and Aegon III, both of whom eventually become king.
So, let's agree that he is (give or take) 16 years older than Rhaenyra. This places him in his early 30s when we first see him meet his niece. Yes, his niece. His teenage niece who we immediately realise he has a bit of a thing for.
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's Relationship With Criston Soiled His White Cloak
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.
"He loved his brother so deeply and trusted him, even through all the problems that they had, and Viserys never shared it with him. He kept [Daemon] in the dark, and it just it breaks Daemon. Instead of reacting with grief or sadness that you see out of him later, he reacts with rage and he takes it out on Rhaenyra."
He chokes Rhaenyra after she starts telling him The Song of Ice and Fire prophecy and learning that Viserys kept secrets from him.
When she brings up the Song of Ice and Fire prophecy, Daemon snaps and grabs her by the throat. “Dreams didn't make us kings,” he hisses as Rhaenyra struggles for breath. “Dragons did.”
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).
He had no noble intentions. His aim, as the writers said, was to hurt Viserys and to do that he abused Rhaenyra and her trust in him. He groomed her with his gift giving and his let-me-show-you-the-world schtick. That's how the writers wrote the scenes.
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.
Rhaenyra Targaryen: In episode 2, Viserys mentions his daughter, Rhaenyra, is 15 years old. Then, following a time jump in episode 3, he mentions she is now 17 (and “of age” to marry).
In the fourth episode of "House of the Dragon," the pair kiss in a brothel, and when rumors that they were intimate together reach the king, Daemon tries to get Viserys to let him marry his niece Rhaenyra. The king refuses, but their story doesn't end there, because by episode eight, they're married.