The Seven Kingdoms of Westeros | Blacks (Rhaenyra Targaryen | Daemon Targaryen) | Greens (Alicent Hightower) | Houses of Westeros (House Targaryen [Viserys Targaryen] | House Velaryon) | Others | Dragons
Queen-Claimant Rhaenyra Targaryen of Dragonstone
"As Queen, what is my true duty to the realm...? Ensuring peace and unity? Or that I sit the Iron Throne, no matter the cost?"
Click here to see young Rhaenyra
"When I am queen, I will create a new order."Played By: Emma D'Arcy (adult), Milly Alcock (young)
Dubbed By: note
"Everyone says Targaryens are closer to gods than to men. But they say that because of our dragons. Without them... we're just like everyone else."
The daughter of King Viserys I by his first wife Aemma Arryn and prospective Queen Regnant of the Seven Kingdoms as Viserys's chosen heir. With Aegon II's usurpation of the succession against her father's wishes, her court crowned her by her own right, making her The Leader of the Black faction of the brewing Succession Crisis called the Dance of the Dragons.
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- Action Survivor: The young Rhaenyra, despite being a skilled Dragon Rider, hasn't really seen combat nor been in a position to injure or kill anybody. Her running off from the royal hunting party was her very first moment of genuine breaking away from her sheltered lifestyle — and the boar attack was her first experience of actually being at risk of dying. When the wounded boar collapses beside he and starts thrashing again, Rhaenyra begins desperately trying to finish it off to try to save herself from getting trampled or gored. She also keeps stabbing it after, letting out her stress at her near-death experience and piling frustrations at her life situation. By the time she returns to camp, she's more-or-less composed again, though the sight of the dead boar being dragged in with blood-splattered princess makes the assembled stare in silence.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: Fire and Blood establishes that Rhaenyra had put on weight as a result of her multiple pregnancies and was no longer as beautiful as she once had been. Emma D'Arcy portrays a conventionally slim and attractive Rhaenyra.
- Adaptational Heroism: Rhaenyra is the protagonist in the show in a way she was not in the book, and to accomplish this she's softened considerably. She doesn't order Vaemond's killing nor feed his corpse to Syrax, is adverse to the possibility of war, criticizes Daemon for being so eager to jump into it, actually considers the terms that the Greens bring her instead of rejecting them out of hand, and feels a deep desire to keep the realm together even if it's at the cost of her personal ambition. Her book counterpart was pretty much the opposite of all those points, being primarily concerned with the denial of her succession rights rather than the realm's welfare and just as eager to go to war as Daemon was (though only after the death of Lucerys).
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: She clearly Has a Type. She's extremely infatuated with Daemon, her borderline-sociopathic uncle, and starts to like the Bracken suitor when he publicly humiliates Willem Blackwood (though he soon learns the error of his ways when Willem duels and kills him). Additionally, she goes for men who are physically capable; all of the men she shows interest in are either decorated knights or lords with a talent for combat.
- Aloof Big Sister: Any sisterly feelings she may have had for Baelon do not extend to Aegon, Helaena and Aemond, whom she views with a certain degree of contempt and resentment. This is chiefly because she (rightfully) fears that Aegon is going to replace her and she'll be resigned to be married off to some random lord, as well as their existence being a continuing reminder of the growing rift between her and Alicent until it turns into a full-blown war.
- Ambiguously Bi: With Alicent Hightower in their teens; there seems to be an undercurrent of attraction and stolen glances. However, due to Alicent being "corrupted" by her Freudian Excuse, awful marriage situation and the rivalry between their families, their relationship slowly becomes one of hurt, bitterness and eventually hate. A cut scene from the first episode even describes Rhaenyra as flirting with Alicent.
- Arch-Enemy: To Alicent Hightower. Although the two start the series as best friends, their relationship starts to fall apart when Alicent marries Rhaenyra's father King Viserys, with Rhaenyra feeling Alicent is manipulating her father for power, while Alicent resents Rhaenyra's flagrant disregard for law and tradition, enabled by Viserys's favouritism. When the civil war begins in earnest between their respective factions, the Greens and the Blacks, after Alicent has her son Aegon crowned king rather than Rhaenyra due to misinterpreting Viserys's last words, Alicent remains Rhaenyra's most personal foe despite not being a warrior of any kind because of their shared history.
- Bad Liar: Overlapping with Blatant Lies, her older sons are so obviously not Velaryons that it's the main focus of the Greens' accusations. However, she's in such high position of power (not to mention her father's protection) that no one dares to say it out loud (save for Vaemond Velaryon). This also couples with Rhaenyra's blunt honesty: she usually just says whatever she's thinking, so she doesn't have much practice actually making convincing lies or manipulations.
- Big Sister Instinct: In regards to Queen Aemma's last child. She tells Alicent she's is unconcerned about her position at court being threatened by the potential birth of her baby brother. Aemma tells Viserys that Rhaenyra wants the baby to be named Visenya after her warrior queen ancestor if the baby's a girl and also intends to place the dragon egg most resembling Vhagar in the baby's cradle. Rhaenyra is shown to be genuinely distraught when both her mother and newborn brother die. She's also quietly upset and angry when she realizes Daemon stole the dragon egg she intended to give to her baby brother.
- Born in the Wrong Century: Her disregard for courtly social mores, the way she clashes with the roles and restrictions placed on her gender, her desire for sexual freedom, her mutually open relationship with her arranged husband (and acceptance of his homosexuality), and the way she treats her children born out of wedlock as legitimate all come off as perfectly understandable to a modern audience. However, to the medieval patriarchal monarchy of Westeros, these things are not tolerable and all are used against her.
- Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Rhaenyra is notable for being the first woman to be formally named heir to the Iron Throne and is set to become the first Queen Regnant of the Seven Kingdoms. Rhaenys, who was herself passed over for this position on account of her sex, is skeptical that Rhaenyra will ever end up on the throne because of this, especially in the likely event her father remarries and has a son. Rhaenyra insists she is her father's heir and declares that when she is queen she will "make a new order." In the books, Rhaenyra is actually the second woman to be named Heir (Aerea Targaryen was the first) but is the first to keep the position after a baby boy is born. Also from the books, Rhaenys was not the claimant of her line; her son Laenor was (Laenor is her older son, unlike the show where Laena is older). Had Laenor been chosen, she would have been Queen Regent. However, Laenor's claim was rejected precisely due to the fact that he came from a female line.
- Broken Pedestal: Towards Alicent. It's first broken when she learns of Alicent's betrothal to King Viserys. Then subverted, when Rhaenyra eventually accepts Alicent was a victim as well (she had little choice in the matter). Although they appear to reconcile more than once, the pedestal is finally shattered for good when Rhaenyra learns that Alicent has participated in The Coup to crown Aegon King, and, she believes, is responsible for the death of her son, Lucerys.
- Brutal Honesty: Rhaenyra has a bad habit of expressing her disdain for powerful lords and ladies directly to their faces in public situations, denoting her rather capricious nature. From the royal ladies at Aegon's second birthday, to her suitors on her marriage tour, to the smallfolk of King's Landing at the play with Daemon—Rhaenyra is disdainful of nearly everyone. This is a problem for someone who badly needs allies because her claim to the Iron Throne is already tenuous and unpopular solely based on her gender.
- Cain and Abel: She has little love for her half-siblings, whom she sees as a threat to her position as heir. It's best shown when Aemond lost his eye due to Lucerys where she showed No Sympathy and demanded he be sharply questioned for insulting her own sons. Unsurprisingly, this adds fuel to the fire in the inevitable Princeling Rivalry.
- Character Tic: She tends to fiddle with the rings on her fingers when she's nervous, as seen when she talks about being worried about her mother's health during her latest pregnancy with Alicent. This detail is taken straight from the book.
- Chocolate Baby: She's the cause of the trope in the series. Her sons Jacaerys, Lucerys and Joffrey are illegitimate and product of her affair with Harwin Strong. Only her sons with Daemon (Aegon the Younger and Viserys) are trueborn. She argues to Jace when questioned that this doesn't matter because they're undeniably Targaryens from her side, even though she implicitly hints to him that they're not Velaryons.
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Contrasting "Prequel" Main Character to Game of Thrones, that is.
- To her descendant Daenerys Targaryen, and how. She and Daemon parallel another duo of Targaryen heirs from early Game of Thrones down the family line, Daenerys and her brother Viserys.
- Both Rhaenyra and Daenerys have ambitions to rule the Seven Kingdoms one day, the former starting from her position as heir to the crown going up against the Heir Club for Men within the court at King's Landing and the latter against the successors to Robert Baratheon (who killed her mad father King Aerys II, ousted her family and usurped the throne) starting from scratch far away in Essos. Where Daenerys would grow up exiled without a court and be on the receiving end of much abuse from her brother, Rhaenyra grew up in the royal court and received affection from her family, uncle included. Daenerys was forcibly married to Khal Drogo (and raped by him) in order for her brother to gain an army of Dothraki riders while King Viserys wishes for Rhaenyra to get married in the realm's best interests while not objecting to the idea that she could Marry for Love. Dany miscarried her first and only child while Rhaenyra managed to give birth to five healthy children, only losing her sixth. Both women became Dragon Riders, Rhaenyra by training out of family tradition in her youth and well-equipped with a dragon saddle, while Daenerys learned on her own in adulthood when the dragons she revived and hatched grew big enough (and she only ever flew them bareback). Speaking of which, Rhaenyra's dragon Syrax is female while all three of Daenerys' dragons (and most importantly the one she rides all the time, Drogon) are males.
- In terms of personality, both of them are daring and can be ruthless in doing what they believe to be right, and both express their willingness to disrupt the current order of power. But while Daenerys isn't afraid to go down and mingle with the people of Essos and sympathizes with their plight, Rhaenyra cares little for the smallfolk of King's Landing due to her comparatively privileged upbringing and life in the royal court.
- For a good while, Daenerys came off as a Messianic Archetype especially in Essos, while Rhaenyra simply wants to succeed her father in order to maintain a strong realm for the day the prophecy of the Song of Ice and Fire (the Long Night) will come true upon Westeros.
- As a young noblewoman who struggles against the social constraints on her in a feudal society due to her gender, and who often clashes with the rules, she has shades of Arya Stark. The placeholder dialogue Milly Alcock used in auditions for young Rhaenyra was lifted straight from Arya's lines in Game of Thrones. Noticeably, Rhaenyra's position and general personality are likely what Arya would have become had she been able to remain merely a lady of Winterfell yet still pursue her more outgoing pursuits. However, she can also be seen as a Deconstruction of Arya's character, which can be traced back to how differently they were both raised. While Eddard Stark raised Arya with the right values thanks to his strict but still loving parenting, Viserys's blatant favoritism towards Rhaenyra caused her rebellious tendencies to run loose, which would end up biting her in the ass as she grows up.
- It's interesting the way Cersei Lannister's characteristics get split between Alicent and Rhaenyra. Alicent gets most of the miserable parts of being Cersei, while Rhaenyra (appropriately) gets the fiery ones. Cersei and Rhaenyra are the ones who voice sentiments along the lines of, "If I were a man I wouldn't have to put up with this bullshit", whereas Alicent tries her best to work within the framework. Rhaenyra gets Cersei's inborn spitfire and impetuousness, while Alicent is a Shrinking Violet who takes a long time to grow a spine. Rhaenyra gets the incest and the three children fathered outside her marriage (though split into two separate relationships in Rhaenyra's case) which are both symbols of sexual freedom and refusal to be controlled or bend to the will of a patriarchal society. The sad parts of being Cersei that Rhaenyra gets is losing her mother to her brother's birth as well as having to deal with the loss of a child. Meanwhile, it's Cersei and Alicent who are both the daughters of controlling and ambitious fathers who treat them as political pawns from a young age and maneuver them into unhappy marriages with kings, and likewise, it's Alicent who slowly gains Cersei's vindictiveness and paranoia as a result of the drudgery of that life.
- She also has elements of Stannis Baratheon: both are bluntly honest regardless of the consequences, and both are the lawful heir to the throne who is continually frustrated that their rivals simply choose to ignore this. Both of them also have their main base on Dragonstone island, the ancestral Targaryen castle traditionally held by the heir to the throne. Both Rhaenyra and Stannis get upended by a younger brother (placed by The Coup and not out of his own volition in Aegon's case). On the other hand, Stannis's bad publicity stems from being a stickler for the rules. Rhaenyra's bad publicity, on the other hand, comes from her vagrant disregard for Westerosi social norms that Stannis would uphold in the name of duty. Furthermore, Stannis is for the most part averse to sex and only has one daughter from his marriage, while Rhaenyra managed to give birth to five children and only miscarried her sixth.
- To her descendant Daenerys Targaryen, and how. She and Daemon parallel another duo of Targaryen heirs from early Game of Thrones down the family line, Daenerys and her brother Viserys.
- Color Motif: In addition to Rhaenyra's usage of House Targaryen's traditional colors (black and red), her other wardrobes also tend to incorporate the color yellow—including her coronation robes' cape. Her dragon Syrax's scales match this colouration.
Word of God from the costuming department is that first they made Viserys's signature color scheme black and gold (swapping out the usual Targaryen red) to set him apart with a more regal look; then in the second half of Season 1 they have Rhaenyra shift to adopting her father's color scheme, which is more black and gold with only hints of red. - Coy, Girlish Flirt Pose: Teenage Rhaenyra used to do this around Daemon.
- Daddy's Girl: She is Viserys' favourite child by a country mile. She and Viserys have a close and affectionate relationship. She serves as his cupbearer during Small Council meetings and becomes much more assertive and active (to Otto Hightower's great displeasure) whenever her father isn’t present. Her father's love for her is what spurs him to name her his heir in defiance of male-centric Westerosi inheritance customs and even swear to not replace her when he sires a son. She's utterly grief-stricken by the news of his death.
- Deconstructed Character Archetype: Like Arya Stark before her (or after her, if you go by the timeline), Rhaenyra deconstructs the Rebellious Princess. Rhaenyra managed to get away with a lot of crap when she was younger, due to being both a princess and, after her mother and brother's death and Daemon's alienation from Viserys, the heir apparent. But while she did eventually become more receptive toward and involved in her royal duties, she never quite managed to shed her rebellious nature. This causes her to make a number of blunders, including alienating Criston and Alicent due to their lack of social freedom that she has. All of this contributes to the enormous opposition that forms to oppose her once Viserys dies.
- Didn't Think This Through: This is one of Rhaenyra's biggest flaws, as she all too often often acts on impulse and thinks that her position will be enough to protect her. One of the two biggest examples of this is that she a) conceived three illegitimate children in the first place, and b) had them with Ser Harwin rather than someone who could sire children that might feasibly look like Laenor is their father, fully expecting her father's wilful blindness will be enough to hide the truth. It isn't. The other one is leaving King's Landing in the hands of those who dislike her. As a result of her leaving for years, they have the opportunity to strengthen their power base over the capital, allowing them to easily seat her brother on the Iron Throne once Viserys dies.
- Doomed by Canon: Outside of literature, hers is the only fate explicitly mentioned in Game of Thrones, when Joffrey Baratheon gives Margaery a tour of the Targaryen remains buried in the Sept of Baelor. Specifically, she's doomed to be roasted by Aegon's dragon, Sunfyre.
- Dude Magnet: The "Realm's delight" has almost every man in the realm pining for her, but some in particular stand out and the only ones who have received reciprocation are Harwin Strong, Daemon Targaryen, Ser Criston Cole. And out of those three, it's pretty obvious her uncle Daemon is the one her heart is set on, while the others are just paramours (which Ser Criston does NOT take kindly to).
- Dragon Rider: She bonded with and rides Syrax, and the first episode depicts this as one of her favorite pastimes in her youth, to the point she's late to a Small Council meeting because she was out flying.
- Elephant in the Living Room: How the subject of her three non-Valyrian children obviously not actually being her husband's (rather by Harwin Strong) is handled by most characters, since it's hard to confront the Crown Princess about such matters without getting your head chopped off courtesy of King Viserys' uncompromising protectiveness. Although her luck finally runs out when she continues to flit around as she pleases with other matters and even moreso when her father dies, as she likely expected her Royal Blood to be a "get out of jail free" card forever.
- Entitled Bastard: Entitlement is arguably Rhaenyra's greatest flaw. Being the first-in-line to the throne and her father's favorite child, Rhaenyra believes that these give her the right to do as she pleases.But once her father becomes increasingly ill and eventually dies, Rhaenyra's actions end up biting her in the ass down the line when she has to press her claim to the Iron Throne over that of her younger brother's. Instead of attempting to build her power base, she spent the last six years of her father's life on Dragonstone, believing that the lords of the Seven Kingdoms would fall in line and accept her as Queen. This sense of entitlement also made her oblivious to the issues of both Alicent and Cole and that neither of them has the same clout that Rhaenyra has to do as they please, turning them from her closest confidants into two of her most bitter enemies.
- Everyone Has Standards: Despite her incestuous infatuation with Daemon, she was furious when she learns that her uncle absconded with the dragon egg meant for her deceased brother Baelon and flew to Dragonstone to confront Daemon and get it back herself.
- Extreme Mêlée Revenge: When a wild boar attacks her in the Kingswood, Ser Criston is quick to drive his sword through the pig. Except it's Not Quite Dead and proceeds to thrash at the sprawled princess again. So Rhaenyra draws her poniard and goes to work; until she's splattered with the beast's blood, sobbing at the release of pent-up stress from Alicent's betrayal and her father's distance.
- Fatal Flaw: Two major ones, which don't really help since she already faces a hardline Heir Club for Men:
- Her tendency to alienate people with her careless actions and words. This bites her hard once she alienates her best friend Alicent and former lover Criston Cole and turns them against her. Had she been more forthright with them, and been more thoughtful of their feelings, she would have avoided this whole mess.
- Thinking that everyone will just fall in line with her as a ruler after her father dies. While Rhaenyra is hardly a fool and knows that her being the heir to the throne is a highly unusual thing and would throw thousands of years of tradition down the drain, she never meaningfully considers how people might take this. She has three illegitimate children with Ser Harwin Strong and seems to believe that, just because she's the official heir, no one will question it or use it as a weapon against her. She spends the final years of her father's reign away from court and not engaging in politics, building relationships with the Great Houses or gathering more supporters (and indeed, almost losing her Velaryon support). She doesn't take the threat of the Greens seriously until it's far too late. And, fatally, she sends her son Lucerys to negotiate with House Baratheon without giving any thought or discussion beforehand as to what her side could offer as incentive to support them; Lucerys is left powerless when it's revealed that the Greens have made an alliance with House Baratheon via Aemond's betrothal to one of Lord Baratheon's daughters, and he's accidentally killed by Aemond's dragon while trying to flee.
- First Kiss: Daemon gives her her first kiss in "King of the Narrow Sea". In fact, it's her first sexual experience of any kind, by all accounts.
- Freudian Excuse: Her vehement reluctance to get married can be partially attributed to the gruesome fate of her mother, who died painfully giving birth to her brother, who ended up dying not long after anyway. As she brings up in her argument with Viserys during the royal hunt, Rhaenyra feared that once she gets married, she will meet a similar fate as her late mother did.
- Good Is Not Dumb: In stark contrast to her trusting, passive, somewhat gullible father, Rhaenyra is practical, observant, and logical — proven early on in her selection of the battle-hardened Criston Cole as a member of the Kingsguard and her quick defusing of Daemon’s egg-stealing scheme in Dragonstone. However, out of her own sense of entitlement, later on she starts making very dumb decisions that damage her chances of becoming Queen such as going with Daemon to a brothel, having sex with Criston Cole, lying to Alicent about the whole thing, and then having three obvious bastard sons. The end result is that she turns two allies into bitter enemies and damages her reputation as well.
- Good Is Not Soft: Young Rhaenyra is still an overall kind and compassionate woman, but she lacks her father’s flaw of too much people-pleasing amiability, and she’s bold, brave, and assertive enough to call Daemon’s bluff during the stolen dragon egg crisis by daring him to strike her down. Viserys even at one point jokes about finding a quiet dinner with her an intimidating prospect, in spite of their closeness.
- Good Parents: In contrast to Alicent who is paranoid about Rhaenyra, and whose children all seem neglected emotionally, Rhaenyra has a close relationship with all of her sons. Of course, it helps that Rhaenyra was an adult by the time she had her children, with two men that she at least desired. She comforts Jace when he struggles with his lessons in High Valyrian, and she reassures Luke when he expresses concerns that he is an Inadequate Inheritor to Corlys Valyron, promising to help guide and teach him. She is openly affectionate with her children, like hugging and kissing them on their foreheads. Rhaenyra can be stern, yet fair, and will readily admonish her children when she needs to. After marrying Daemon, she becomes a Good Stepmother to Baela and Rhaena, and was shown being worried about the girls' emotional well-being at their mother's funeral by sending Luke to support them. She really has come a long way from a young woman who hated the idea of having children.
H-W
- Happily Married:
- Her marriage with Laenor, for political and public purposes, is presented as this while secretly being a mutual open marriage due to their sexual incompatibility. Rhaenyra does state she loves Laenor, and Laenor all but says he cares about Rhaenyra, but it seems to be more of a case of being close friends and mutual understanding.
- When Rhaenyra and Daemon finally wed, they share six years of marital bliss away from the politics of King's Landing at her seat of Dragonstone. Their respective children by their old partners are well on their way to this as well after their betrothals. Showcasing that she and her husband have been nurturing parents too. Becomes subverted when Rhaenrya is hesitant to commit to war against the Greens and talks about her father's belief in prophetic dreams and Daemon chokes her out of the blue for several seconds. In addition, when Rhaenrya is giving birth, Daemon not only doesn't go to her but instead starts making important decisions on their faction's next move without waiting for her to recover, which she soon finds out during the Blacks' small council meeting. It's implied this is all related to the angst he feels after the deaths of his brother and unborn child and the looming threat of the Greens, as well as a long-held inclination to war.
- Her Own Worst Enemy: Rhaenrya does far more PR damage to her own cause than the Greens do. She visits a brothel, has sex with a member of the Kingsguard, has three obvious bastards and arranges for the supposed murder of her greatest allies' only son. She gives the Greens an almost absurd amount of ammunition to use against her and turns multiple allies into enemies.
- Hiding Behind the Language Barrier: Rhaenyra and her uncle Daemon speak to each other in Valyrian. It's a Downplayed Trope, in that they're not trying to exclude a specific third party from the conversation and rather do out of tradition and habit, but it does create an insular, private air to their conversations.
- Hoist by Their Own Petard:
- Admittedly, it only looks like this in retrospect. However, her elevating Criston Cole to the Kingsguard snowballed from her bedding him for Their First Time, and then spurning him into becoming a particularly-venomous enemy in league with her stepmother and former friend Queen Alicent.
- In an attempt to protect her sons, Rhaenyra accusing Aemond of treason for calling her sons bastards ultimately backfires when Aemond blames Aegon for spreading the rumor. When Viserys questions Aegon, he bluntly admits that no one had to tell them, because it's an Open Secret. Rhaenyra has a subtle Oh, Crap! moment when she realizes she just made the "rumor" much more plausible and public.
- Horrible Judge of Character: She dispatches Lucerys as an envoy to Storm's End and get the Stormlands' support in the upcoming war. She cites that Lord Borros, a notoriously prideful man, would be honored to have a prince and a dragonrider personally come to him, which would make him more amendable to an alliance. While Rhaenyra was right in that Borros is a prideful man, he's actually far from gracious towards Lucerys's arrival. He sees Rhaenyra's demands for him to pledge his fealty to her as an insult to him and his House, made even worse by the revelation that the Greens at least offered a marriage pact between Prince Aemond and one of Borros's daughters before Lucerys's arrival. What probably contributed to Rhaenyra's misjudgment was that she believed Borros was exactly like his father Boremund, who swore an oath of loyalty to Rhaenyra, while he actually doesn't feel bound by his father's promises one bit.
- Hypocrite:
- Rhaenyra rightfully rejects Criston Cole's proposal to elope together due to her strong feelings of duty to the realm and the smear it would leave on her reputation if she ran away from it all. However, she's shown to be perfectly willing to risk it all for Daemon, and even proposes he take her to Dragonstone to marry her at her own wedding feast to Laenor.
- She is every bit guilty of what the Greens accuse her of, and it's shown that even when she doesn't admit it, she is in the perception that the Greens don't have the right to accuse her in the first place (even if they're right), as Viserys' will protects her and her sons regardless.
- Innocently Insensitive:
- She proposes that Ser Criston Cole continue to be her paramour after her marriage to Laenor, despite the fact that he took the oaths he made as a knight, including his oath of chastity, seriously. Whether she was innocent or simply only thinking about herself in this is ambiguous, as she shows no remorse for her part in his breaking his oath after he begins to visibly cross the Despair Event Horizon in front of her.
Ser Criston Cole: I took an oath. As a, as a knight of, of your Kings guard. An oath of chastity. I've broken it.
Rhaenyra: I won't tell anyone...
Ser Criston Cole: I-I've, I've soiled my, my, wh... my white cloak. And it's the only thing I have to my fucking name! I, I thought if we were married, I might be able to restore it.
Rhaenyra: [Beat] The Iron Throne looms larger than me, larger than anyone in my family. Aegon the Conqueror united the Seven Kingdoms and put them on a path... [as he walks off] Ser Criston!- She thinks little of betraying Alicent's trust, though it's implied that she is somewhat aware that Alicent somehow eventually caught wind of everything that happened. Rhaenyra herself broke the pedestal that Alicent held her on, and expected everything to go on just as always, but Alicent said "nope!" by wearing green at Rhaenyra's wedding.
- Irony: Rhaenyra couldn't stand the idea of having children when she was younger. She eventually becomes the most loving and doting mother in the setting by far. Aemma had seven pregnancies, of which Rhaenyra was the only child who survived past infancy. Rhaenyra inversely has five children out of six pregnancies.
- Karma Houdini: Alicent and the Greens see her (and resent her big time) as this, as King Viserys has ensured she never be punished for her regular affairs and attempt at passing off her bastards with Harwyn Strong as legitimate heirs to the throne, which would be treasonous and had most other women and their children in their positions disgraced and disowned at least.
- Kick the Dog:
- Her dismissal of Willem Blackwood (who is maybe thirteen at the most) is needlessly cruel, especially with how she encourages the crowd to bully him and blatantly favors the Bracken for humiliating Willem. Then, when a fight breaks out partly due to her, she just leaves instead of making any effort to calm the situation.
- While she doesn't have Laenor killed, she still has an innocent man murdered by Daemon so that she can be free to marry her uncle, while also further traumatizing Corlys and Rhaenys by making them think Laenor was brutally killed. What makes this worse is that she does this shortly after Laena's funeral.
- When Aemond loses his eye at Lucerys' hand, she shows No Sympathy or regret for her half-brother's state and demands he be "sharply questioned" despite clearly still bleeding for rightfully calling her sons bastards. Alicent was naturally furious at this, more so when Viserys lets her off the hook.
- Like Parent, Like Child:
- Rhaenyra and Viserys both position their firstborn as heir, going against both convention and law. Alongside this, father and daughter nonetheless decide enter a second marriage which yields children with a traditional claim as heir, thus weakening the chosen heir's position.
- Both father and daughter deal with problems by avoidance. Viserys makes decisions as rarely as possible; Rhaenyra deals by saying Screw This, I'm Outta Here and removing herself from court for six years.
- Upon ascension, her first inclination is clinging to Viserys' idea of conciliation, "defending the realm, not casting it headlong into war". Unfortunately, like Viserys before her, she is only postponing the inevitable as any possible peace quickly becomes untenable.
- Little Miss Badass: At an age of only five and ten, she makes some pretty impressive stunts on Syrax, buzzing Otto's party, (then Caraxes) before landing her adolescent dragon on a thin bridge, strides through ranks of soldiers and successfully dissects Daemon's bluff over the stolen dragon egg.
- Mama Bear:
- Rhaenyra is fiercely protective of all her children and will fight tooth and nail to protect them from those who want to hurt them, even if the price to pay is that she herself gets hurt in the fight. As happens when she blocks a furious, armed Alicent from jabbing Luke's eye out (for what he did to Aemond) and gains a deep cut on her left arm in the fracas.
- She also has this for Joffrey as soon as he's born. Refusing to be parted from him when he's to be brought to the queen consort, she endures the postpartum cramps and a humiliatingly painful walk through court with him in her arms, not even allowing Laenor to hold him before she reaches Alicent's chambers.
- She's also visibly protective over her baby bump and even refuses to let the Silent Sisters wrap little Visenya instead insisting on doing it herself.
- She was initially willing to try to resolve things diplomatically with the Greens, but when she learns that her sweet son, Luke, has been killed by Aemond, she's immediately spurred into war.
- Mascot: Young Rhaenyra wearing her swearing-in ceremony dress has been the focus of the main poster for the first season as well as plenty of banners for that season.
- Mystical White Hair: A definitive feature of her family's ancestry and one of her most notable physical features is her white hair. It complements the magical bond Targaryens have with their dragons.
- No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Due to the Dance of the Dragons being directly influenced by "the Anarchy", the Succession Crisis that erupted within The House of Normandy, most presume Rhaenyra as the stand-in for the historical de jure female claimant Empress Matilda
. At the very least, a number of her character beats reflect Matilda's personal history:- Like Matilda, Rhaenyra was groomed for greater political authority. Unlike Rhaenyra, however, Matilda was not averse to marriage per se—in fact, it was due to her marriage to Holy Roman Emperor Henry V that she is memorialized as Empress.
- That said, Matilda was averse to remarrying—but only because she deems her prospects (even the one she ended up with, Geoffrey of Anjou) a downgrade to her late husband, and had to be forced/threatened with disinheritance to acquiesce. This reflects in Rhaenyra's persistent dismissal of the noblemen who propose to her, and her being eventually compelled to accept the Velaryon match.
- Open Secret: The fact that Harwin Strong is her lover and the father of her three eldest children instead of Laenor is known to everyone except her father Viserys, who is only being willfully ignorant for the sake of his grandchildren.
- Outdoorsy Gal: In her youth, she dreams of nothing more than exploring the world on the back of her dragon Syrax. She loves flying over and around King's Landing, to the dismay of her mother, who also remarked on the dragon smell on her.
- Outliving One's Offspring: After learning of Viserys' death and Aegon's coronation, Rhaenyra goes into premature labor and delivers a stillborn child. Later, she learns that Lucerys has been killed in a confrontation with Aemond and Vhagar.
- Pimped-Out Cape: During the ceremony where she is pronounced the heir to the throne, she wears a floor-length black and gold cape with golden dragons stitched along the front of the collar, and a golden sunburst surrounding red dragons embroidered across the back.
- Politically-Active Princess: She aspires to be this, especially after her father names her his heir. She already attends Small Council meetings as the cupbearer, although when she tries to make suggestions she tends to be politely ignored. She does make an effort to have sway over decisions, choosing Ser Criston Cole as the new Kingsguard (as he has the most combat experience) and resolving the dragon egg theft incident diplomatically, though she's well aware people may not listen to her on account of her being a girl. Come "King of the Narrow Sea", she is no longer in cupbearing duty and is seated in the Small Council (presumably in her capacity as Princess of Dragonstone).
- Practically Different Generations:
- Rhaenyra is around 14 when her brother Baelon is born; her mother had previously gone through years of miscarriages and stillbirths. Unfortunately, Baelon dies shortly after his birth along with Queen Aemma. This prompts Viserys to name Rhaenyra his heir, as due to the circumstances he realizes he's unlikely to get a son anytime soon.
- The gap between her and her eldest half-brother Aegon is even wider; her father is pressured to take another wife just half a year after losing Aemma and marries Rhaenyra's friend Alicent (his other option was 12-year-old Laena, which was visibly distasteful to him) and Aegon was born soon after. Rhaenyra is around eighteen when Aegon celebrates his second birthday. It's one of the main reasons Viserys finds the idea of them marrying ridiculous and repulsive, seeing as Aegon is a toddler while Rhaenyra is a young woman.
- Princess Protagonist: Rhaenyra is the protagonist of the show and the main plot revolves around her struggles as heiress of the Iron Throne.
- Rebellious Princess: She certainly acts like one, bemoaning her duties to the realm and the restrictions it puts on her, primarily due to her gender. However, when Criston Cole proposes they run away together to live how they want after listening to her complain about her role for years, she reveals that it was just her venting her frustrations, as she realizes how important the role she has to play is. She is the crown, after all. This later ends up a Deconstructed Character Archetype, as while Rhaenyra does gradaully calm down, she never fully leaves her rebellious nature behind, which repeatedly bites her in the ass.Rhaenyra: I am the crown, Ser Criston. Or I will be. I may chafe at my duties, but do you think I would choose infamy in exchange for a bushel of oranges or a ship to Asshai?
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: As a teen girl, she is seen to be the more free-spirited girl compared to the bookish, demure Alicent. Ironically, she reverses this with her uncle Daemon, sharing her father’s more calm and analytical demeanor when stacked up against his violent and rash nature.
- Requisite Royal Regalia: When she is formally declared her father's heir and the lords of Westeros swear fealty to her, she wears a lavish red dress with gold embroidery along the bodice and sleeves, a black crown-like headdress with gold beads, a floor-length gold and black cape, and heavy gold jewelry to symbolize her status.
- The Resenter: After her father marries Alicent, and has Aegon, the son he's long desired, Rhaenyra becomes deeply resentful of all of them, coldly rebuffing their attempts to approach her. This is partly because she feels that in doing this, the acknowledgement and respect she's long strived for is being denied again, and that she's been betrayed by her father and best friend - especially since she'd given Viserys her blessing to marry Laena Velaryon.
- Royal Brat: Rhaenyra is a crown princess, one uniquely cherished and coddled by her father at that. As a result, she is consistently out-of-touch, most conspicuously in the area of other people. She is rude to the nobles on The Grand Hunt. She insults her suitors on her tour. She says what the people of King's Landing want is of no consequence. She strong-arms Criston into sex even when he says "Stop", and then is surprised when he feels some type of way about it. Then she has three flagrantly illegitimate children and she expects everyone to just play along with it.
- Royal Inbreeding: Daemon's and his niece Rhaenyra's feelings for each other are more than merely familial. They go for a night out in King's Landing. When he takes her to a pleasure house, they end up getting very intimate with each other, though Daemon stops it at the last moment. After the deaths of their respective spouses, they rekindle their relationship, get married in a Valyrian ceremony and have two sons named Aegon III and Viserys II.
- Scars Are Forever: The gash she got when Alicent cut her arm in episode seven of the first season is still visible six years later in episode eight as a pearly white scar.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: While she doesn't shout the fact that her three sons were fathered by Harwin Strong from the rooftops, she doesn't try to be too circumspect about it either, since she's confident that her father will always have her back. Deconstructed, as her breaking the rules and social customs in such a blatant manner has garnered her a fair amount of resentment from the likes of Alicent and the Greens who use it as fuel against her, particularly after her father passes away.
- The Smurfette Principle: The only Queen Regnant in the history of Westeros (until Cersei Lannister seizes the throne at the end of Season 6 of Game of Thrones, which.. might not happen in the books).
- Sex as Rite-of-Passage: Daemon invites her to secretly visit King's Landing during the night, where he leads Rhaenyra to one of his favorite pleasure houses, and initiates her in the matters of sex. Rhaenyra is both flustered and excited at the sight of men and women having sex free of any guilt or responsibility.
- Shared Family Quirks: She has the same kind of ambition as her descendant Daenerys, that is wanting to rule Westeros one day whatever her enemies (partisans of the Heir Club for Men for Rhaenyra, House Lannister and their allies for Daenerys) are plotting.
- Spoiled Brat: Having been raised by her father with far more freedoms and privileges than would be expected of most other princesses and noblewomen, Rhaenyra has developed traits of this attitude that are particularly marked during her adolescence (especially after Viserys and Alicent's marriage). The most noteworthy example is her brazenly rejecting Alicent and Viserys' attempts to reconcile a whole three years after their marriage, and during her progress to interview the realm's most eligible suitors she haughtily dismisses poor Willem Blackwood and instead tangentially encourages his Bracken rival to continue demeaning the boy.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: Daemon gives her a page's garments as a disguise and a woolen beanie hat to cover her silver locks; so she can walk the nightlife streets of King's Landing with him. She just about passes as a boy... in the dark... and if you're piss-ass drunk.
- Symbol Motif Clothing: Much like Daenerys, her dragon-riding leathers have applications resembling dragon scales. Her collar-bearing black dress that she wears upon her return to court has golden and scarlet dragon heads intertwined with each other. Showcasing that her bond with her husband is as close as Syrax and Caraxes, their dragons. The ruby gold necklace she dons with it also has five jewels to signify Jace, Luke, Joff, Aegon and Viserys.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Downplayed Trope, but she's the Tomboy to Alicent's Girly Girl when they were younger, when she preferred dragonriding to studying.
- Tomboy Princess: Princess Rhaenyra likes dragonriding, violent combat and longs for adventure.
- Trauma Conga Line: In the space of just a few days, her father dies, her rivals steal her inheritance, she loses her unborn child, and her son dies a tragic and violent death at the hands of said rivals. All of this hardens her resolve to go to war to avenge the wrongs done to her.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: As a teenager she demonstrates a mature insight into House Targaryen's relationship with their dragons and power, telling her father she thinks that people only see them as "closer to gods than men" because of the dragons and that without them "we're just like everyone else".
- Would Hurt a Child: After she hears that Aemond called her sons bastards, she demands that he be questioned "sharply" to find out where he heard it, prompting a shocked, "Over an insult?!" from Alicent.From the books ...
