How Rhaenyra Targaryen Is Related To Daenerys

Summary

• Rhaenyra Targaryen’s legacy lives on in descendant Daenerys, both being Targaryen ruling queens of Westeros.
• Daenerys’ lineage traces back to Rhaenyra through a complex family tree involving generations of Targaryen rulers.
• House of the Dragon
  solidifies the connection by portraying Rhaenyra’s dragon as the mother of Daenerys’ dragon eggs.

Warning! This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon and Game of ThronesRhaenyra Targaryen, one of the central characters in House of the Dragon, is related to Game of Thrones‘ Daenerys Targaryen, as one of her most controversial ancestors because of the Targaryen civil war, the Dance of Dragons. Although Rhaenyra Targaryen will die in House of the Dragon, her legacy lives on in her many descendants, including Daenerys, who was born almost 200 years later. During that time, the Targaryens endure war, tragedy, and peace, but Rhaenyra and Daenerys remain the only two Targaryen ruling queens Westeros has ever had.

Despite the many generations that separate these two women, they have a lot in common, establishing a firm connection between ancestor and descendant. Dragons become extinct shortly after Rhaenyra’s reign, but Daenerys brings the mythical creatures back to life in Game of Thrones season 1, episode 10, “Fire And Blood.” House Of The Dragon even solidified Rhaenyra’s dragon, Syrax, Rhaenyra’s dragon, being the mother of Daenerys’ dragon eggs in Game of Thrones, even though it is not canon in the Song of Ice and Fire books. There is no doubt Daenerys descends from a strong queen like Rhaenyra.

Rhaenyra Targaryen Is Daenerys’ Fifth Great-Grandmother

Daenerys Is A Descendant From Rhaenyra & Daemon’s Line

Daenerys is related to Rhaenyra because she is her direct descendant from Rhaenyra’s marriage with Daemon. In House of the Dragon season 1, episode 7, “Driftmark,” Daemon and Rhaenyra marry, and in episode 8, “The Lord of the Tides,” Daemon and Rhaenyra have two sons in six years. Their sons are named Aegon and Viserys. At the end of the Dance of Dragons, all of Rhaenyra’s sons are presumed dead, except Aegon. He ascends the throne as Aegon III after someone fatally poisons Aegon II.

However, Fire & Blood later reveals that Viserys did not die; he was just kidnapped and sold, eventually returning to King’s Landing. Aegon III dies with two sons as his heirs—Daeron I and Baelor I. However, neither king produces offspring, transferring the line of succession to Viserys. Aegon III does have three daughters—Daena, Rhaena, and Elaena. However, the Game of Thrones prequel establishes that the Dance of Dragons occurred primarily because of male primogeniture, so Westeros passed over Aegon III’s daughters to avoid another war. Daenerys comes from Viserys’ descendants, making her Rhaenyra’s fifth great-granddaughter.

How The Targaryen Line Continues From Rhaenyra’s Children To Daenerys

Viserys II’s Descendants That Lead To Daenerys

Viserys has three children: Aegon IV, Naerys, and Aemon. To keep Targaryen tradition, Viserys marries Aegon, his heir, to his sister, Naerys. They have two children: Daeron II and Daenerys. Daeron II has four sons, two of whom become king—Aerys I and Maekar I. When Aerys dies without children, Maekar, Daeron’s fourth son, ascends the iron throne. Maekar also has four sons: Daeron, Aerion, Aemon—who later becomes Maester Aemon—and Aegon. Maekar Targaryen and his sons will appear in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. By the time Maekar dies, his two eldest sons, Daeron and Aerion, have already passed.

However,
A Song Of Ice And Fire
has an extra generation between Aegon V and the Mad King.

An emergency council gathers to determine the next Targaryen king, initially asking Aemon to be king. However, Aemon rejects them because he has already taken the Black. Therefore, Maekar’s fourth son, Aegon V, becomes king of Westeros. Aegon V’s descendants differ in Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire. Game of Thrones makes Aerys II and Rhaella, his sister-wife, Aegon V’s children. However, A Song of Ice and Fire has an extra generation between Aegon V and the Mad King. In the books, Aegon V has several children, none of which are Aerys or Rhaella.

After Aegon V’s eldest son, Duncan gives up the throne for love, his second son, Jaehaerys, becomes the king upon Aegon V’s death. Jaehaerys tricks his father and marries his sister, Shaera, reigniting the Targaryen sibling marriage tradition. Jaehaerys and Shaera have Aerys and Rhaella, Daenerys’ parents. Therefore, A Song of Ice and Fire depicts Rhaenyra as Daenerys’ sixth great-grandmother, while she remains Daenerys’ fifth great-grandmother in the show’s universe. It is fascinating that Game of Thrones changed the Mad King’s parentage, but it makes sense, given that they also aged up the present-day characters.