Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen

Emma Zia D’Arcy is an English actor born on June 27, 1992. They are best known for their roles in the BBC drama Wanderlust (2018), the Amazon Prime series Truth Seekers (2020), and the HBO fantasy series House of the Dragon. For their work in House of the Dragon, they were nominated for a Golden Globe Award and received praise from critics.

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Name	Emma D’Arcy
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Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen

The first child of King Viserys I Targaryen was Rhaenyra Targaryen. When she was young, people cheered for her and called her the Realm’s Delight. Later, she was called the Half-Year Queen. King Viserys I had one living child from his first marriage to Queen Aemma of House Arryn.

Her name was Rhaenyra. When she was eight years old, her father named her his heir, and she grew up hoping to be the first Queen of Westeros. Rhaenyra rode beasts, and Syrax was her dragon.

Aegon II Targaryen, her younger half-brother, disputed her claim to the Iron Throne. This started the feud known as the Dance of the Dragons. Aegon III and Viserys II were her sons.

Rhaenyra’s sigil was the standard Targaryen heraldry (a three-headed red dragon on a black field), quartered with the moon-and-falcon sigil of House Targaryen (for her mother Aemma Targaryen), and the silver seahorse on sea Green of House Velaryon. Her group’s battle flag was her special heraldry during the Dance.

Rhaenyra Targaryen Character, How She Looks Like and Birth

Rhaenyra looked like her Valyrian family; she wore her silver-gold hair in a long braid like Queen Visenya Targaryen. Rhaenyra was a very smart, brave, and pretty child who grew up too quickly. Rhaenyra’s uncle, Prince Daemon Targaryen, told her she was the most beautiful girl in all Seven Kingdoms when she was fourteen. Even though Rhaenyra never lost the weight she gained during her pregnancies, she had a big bust. By age twenty, she had become fat and had a thick waist.

Rhaenyra was haughty and unwilling to give in, and her small mouth made her sound spoiled. Rhaenyra could be cute, but she got angry easily and never forgot a wrong. She didn’t like her stepmother, Queen Alicent Hightower, but she liked Lady Laena Velaryon.

Rhaenyra always wore expensive clothes. She liked purple and red velvets and intricately patterned golden Myrish lace. Pears and diamonds often sparkled on her blouse, and she always had rings on her fingers. When stressed, she couldn’t stop turning them around her fingers. She wore her father’s crown, Viserys I, during the Dance of the Dragons. King Jaehaerys I Targaryen had worn it first.

Rhaenyra’s Date of Birth and Early Life

King Viserys I Targaryen’s only living child by his first wife, Lady Aemma of House Arryn, was Rhaenyra. She was born in 97 AD. Rhaenyra had two boys, but they both died in the womb.

Rhaenyra learned to ride a dragon when she was seven years old. She took off on the back of a young dragon and named it Syrax. When Rhaenyra was eight years old, she became her father’s cupbearer and served him at the table, at tournaments, and on the court. After that, King Viserys was rarely seen without Rhaenyra.

When she was very young, Rhaenyra fell in love with her uncle, Prince Daemon Targaryen. When the rogue prince crossed the narrow sea, he often brought her strange gifts. During the event for King Viserys I’s accession, Ser Criston Cole beat Daemon in a fight by taking away his weapons. The knight gave Rhaenyra the winner’s flower and asked the seven-year-old girl to help him with the lists.

When Criston joined the Kingsguard in 105 AC, Rhaenyra fell in love with him and named him her “white knight.” Viserys made the handsome knight Rhaenyra’s special shield and protector. After that, Cole always put Rhaenyra’s name on the list and looked out for her at public events.

Rhaenyra’s mother, Aemma, died late in the year 105 AC. She had just given birth to her second brother, Prince Baelon, who died the next day. Then, King Viserys made Rhaenyra his heir and had all the lords of the Seven Kingdoms swear allegiance to her, saying they would protect her rights to become king. Rhaenyra was also given the title Princess of Dragonstone.

In 106 AD, King Viserys remarried to Lady Alicent Hightower. At first, grandmother and stepdaughter got along well. That changed when Alicent gave birth to the king’s two sons, Aegon in 107 AC and Aemond in 110 AC. However, Viserys did not name either boy as his heir.

People kept asking Viserys about the succession, but he didn’t want to discuss it. Ser Otto Hightower, Viserys’s Hand and Alicent’s father, was kicked out of court for making too much of a fuss about it. But even after he left, it was clear that two groups were at court: the Princess’s party and the Queen’s party.

King Viserys and Queen Alicent were married for five years in 111 AC. To celebrate, a big tournament was held at King’s Landing. Princess Rhaenyra wore a dramatic Targaryen red and black outfit to the opening feast, while the Queen wore a green gown.

People started calling the Queen’s party “Greens” and the Princess’s party “blacks” after that. The blacks did better in the tournament because Criston, dressed as Rhaenyra, unhorsed all of the Queen’s champions, including two of her cousins and her youngest brother, Ser Gwayne Hightower.

Septon Eustace says that Rhaenyra lost her virginity to her uncle, Prince Daemon, before she turned sixteen when he slept with her. Mushroom’s story, on the other hand, is even more scandalous. He says that Daemon taught Rhaenyra how to charm and please a man and that he also learned these skills.

Also, Mushroon said that Daemon sneaked Rhaenyra out of her rooms as a page boy and took her to brothels on the Street of Silk, where she could watch prostitutes make love and learn the “womanly arts.” Eustace’s story differs from Mushroom’s because Mushroom says Rhaenyra stayed a virgin during these lessons.

Mushroom says that Rhaenyra learned those things from Daemon because she loved Criston Cole and wanted him to see her as a woman. No matter which story is true—Grand Maester Runciter only says that the brothers fought—King Viserys sent his brother away.

As a Ruling Princess of Dragonstone

Rhaenyra took Dragonstone when she was sixteen years old, in the year 113 AD. Many lords and knights had come to her and asked for her hand in marriage or their favor. The sons of Lords Blackwood and Bracken fought over the Princess of Dragonstone when she came to the Trident in 112 AC.

The “Fool Frey” asked her to marry him. At Casterly Rock, the twin knights Jason and Tyland Lannister wooed her. The sons of Lords Oakheart, Tarly, Tully, and Tyrell also tried to get her to marry them. Ser Harwin Strong, who was Lord Lyonel Strong’s son, also tried to get close to the girl.

The king of Targaryen, Viserys I, considered marrying his daughter to Prince Qoren Martell so that Dorne could join the Seven Kingdoms. Queen Alicent Hightower thought about Rhaenyra getting married to her oldest son, Prince Aegon Targaryen.

Rhaenyra instead married Ser Laenor Velaryon in 114 AC. Viserys had to threaten to take away Rhaenyra’s position as heir to the Iron Throne to get her to agree to the marriage. Rhaenyra didn’t see a reason to marry a man with Laenor’s interests.

It was said that the Princess told her father, “My half-brothers would be more to his taste.” During the wedding tournament, Ser Criston Cole killed Ser Joffrey Lonmouth, who was Laenor’s best friend. Laenor decided to spend most of his time at High Tide, but his wife would rather stay at court. Rhaenyra liked Lady Laena Velaryon, who was Laenor’s sister and married Prince Daemon Targaryen after his first wife, Lady Rhea Royce, died.

Princes Jacaerys “Jace,” Lucerys “Luke,” and Joffrey “Joff” Velaryon were the three kids that Laenor and Rhaenyra shared. It was said that Rhaenyra’s kids were actually fathered by her lover, Harwin Strong, who was known as “Breakbones.” All three were born with brown hair, brown eyes, and “normal” traits like a pug nose.

But both Laenor and Rhaenyra had the purple eyes and silver-gold hair of Valyria. Laenor also had an aquiline nose. It’s still unclear who Rhaenyra’s three oldest children belong to. Even though these things were said, it was clear that King Viserys wanted Rhaenyra to be his heir and for her boys to follow her.

Every one of Rhaenyra’s Velaryon boys was given a dragon egg in the cradle by royal order. People who didn’t believe they were their fathers said the eggs would never hatch. But they all did, and the three boys eventually became Dragonriders. Septon Eustace said that while King Viserys was sitting on the Iron Throne, he put Jace on his knee and told him, “One day this will be your seat, lad.”

Laena Velaryon, Prince Daemon Targaryen’s wife, died after giving birth in 120 AD. Aemond Targaryen, Alicent’s son, fought with Rhaenyra’s sons at her funeral. He called them “bastards from House Strong.” When Lucerys attacked Jacaerys with a knife during the child fight, Aemond lost an eye.

Alicent wanted Luke to lose an eye as a punishment, and Rhaenyra wanted Aemond to be questioned “sharply” to find out where he got those stories, but King Viserys said that all that was needed for peace was for the children to say sorry to each other. The king also said that anyone who spread the Strong story would have to stop, and he told Harwin Strong to leave Dragonstone and go to Harrenhal.

After that, Harwin and his father, Lyonel, the Hand of the King, were killed in a huge fire at Harrenhal. Some said the curse of Harrenhal caused the fire, but others said it was Daemon, Lord Corlys Velaryon, Harwin’s younger brother Larys Strong, or even Viserys. In the same year, Rhaenyra’s husband, Ser Laenor Velaryon, died in a fight with Ser Qarl Correy, who was his friend and suspected lover.

Less than six months after Laena, Laenor, and Harwin died, Rhaenyra secretly married her uncle, Prince Daemon, at Dragonstone. Prince Daemon was the most experienced fighter of his time. Septon Eustace said that they got married in secret so that Viserys wouldn’t be able to stop them, but Mushroom said that Daemon, who was 39 years old at the time, had already gotten the Princess, who was 23, pregnant. The wedding news made a big fuss at King’s Landing’s court, making Rhaenyra’s father very angry.

King Viserys was furious that a wedding happening so soon after the deaths of Daemon’s wife and Rhaenyra’s husband was an insult to their memories. Viserys and Daemon didn’t get along again for a while. At the end of the year, Rhaenyra and Daemon had their first boy, Prince Aegon the Younger. He was born with purple eyes and pale silvery hair. Viserys was the name of Rhaenyra’s second son, born in 122 AD.

Rhaenyra argued that her second-oldest son, Lucerys, should be called the heir to Driftmark in the year 126 AC. On the other hand, several lower cousins of House Velaryon tried to convince the Iron Throne that her sons were immoral and had no right to Driftmark, but they were ignored. King Viserys heard them but kept quiet. After telling them to cut off their mouths, he slipped and cut his hand on the Iron Throne.

The king had a fever from an infection, and Grand Maester Mellos couldn’t get him better. It was thought that he would die. Viserys didn’t get better until Rhaenyra sent her Maester, Gerardys, to help heal her father.

Rhaenyra Targaryen in the Dance of the Dragons

Rhaenyra was her father, King Viserys I Targaryen, who intended for her to become king after he died. A declaration of Viserys’ will proved that he meant what he said he would do. When Viserys died in 129 AC, Ser Otto Hightower, who was the King’s Hand, and Ser Criston Cole, who was Lord Commander of the Kingsguard and may have been Rhaenyra’s ex-lover, went against the king’s orders and crowned Aegon II, Rhaenyra’s half-brother and Queen Alicent Hightower’s son, instead.

Aegon II was ten years younger. People who rode dragons fought each other in the Targaryen civil war called the Dance of the Dragons. Rhaenyra rode her dragon, Syrax, during the war.

When her father died, Rhaenyra was on Dragonstone, making plans for the birth of her sixth child. The Greens in King’s Landing ensured she didn’t hear about the Viserys’s death until all of her allies in the Red Keep were killed or jailed, and Aegon II had been crowned king. Rhaenyra became very angry when she heard the news.

She went into early labor and had a daughter named Visenya who was born twisted and died. Rhaenyra said that the people who had stolen her crown were to blame for this terrible event. Rhaenyra had her own quickly planned coronation. When Ser Steffon Darklyn of the Kingsguard arrived on Dragonstone with other allies, it was a happy event because they brought the crowns worn by Jaehaerys I and Viserys.

Rhaenyra’s husband and uncle, Prince Daemon Targaryen, gave her the crown her father had worn. When word of her coronation got to King’s Landing, she was offered terms to let Rhaenyra and her children and grandchildren stay in charge of Dragonstone if she gave up her claims. She turned them down, knowing that war was going to happen anyway.

Rhaenyra sent her son Jace on his dragon to meet with the Arryns, Manderlys, and Starks to get more backing for her plan to take the throne from her brother. She also sent her son Luke to Storm’s End to meet with Lord Borros Baratheon.

Luke’s trip was considered safer, but when he got to Storm’s End, Queen Alicent’s younger son Aemond was already there. Although Aemond failed to win Lord Borros’ support, he killed Luke over Shipbreaker Bay while trying to leave. Luke’s mother was very sad when she heard that he had died.

Rhaenyra took over the city and ruled for about six months. After taking the city, Rhaenyra insisted on sitting on her father’s seat. She climbed the Iron Throne and listened to people in the Red Keep beg for forgiveness and loyalty all night. September Eustace said that even though Rhaenyra was wearing armor, people there saw the chair cut her legs and left-hand several times.

People saw the blood as a sign that the throne didn’t want her, so she wouldn’t last long as Queen. Eustace also says that Rhaenyra always cut herself more often when she was on the Iron Throne and gained weight from overeating in King’s Landing.

Because they had never liked Aegon II Targaryen or his brother Aemond, the people living in King’s Landing initially welcomed Rhaenyra’s return as a ruler. As soon as Rhaenyra took power, she sent knights inquisitors to find those who had helped Aegon escape the capital. Every day, more and more heads started appearing on the gates’ spikes.

When he died, the late king Viserys I Targaryen had left the treasure vaults full of gold. Still, the treasury was empty by the time Rhaenyra took the city because the Greens had sent three-quarters of the gold away for safekeeping and spent the rest before it fell.

In order to get the money Rhaenyra needed so badly, her new master of coins, Lord Bartimos Celtigar, raised taxes on the people every day. People in the small towns slowly began to dislike her, and they finally called her “King Maegor with teats.” For one hundred years after that, the phrase “Maegor’s Teats” was used as a curse in King’s Landing.

When Rhaenyra heard about the Two Betrayers, she became scared and said that Ser Addam Velaryon and the girl Nettles were both traitors. This turned out to be a terrible choice. Lord Corlys Velaryon, Rhaenyra’s Hand, told Addam just in time for the knight to escape on the back of the dragon Seasmoke. Addam had been named Corlys’s heir. This caused Corlys to be arrested, making the House Velaryon fleet give up on Rhaenyra’s cause.

For Nettles, the girl, Queen Rhaenyra had written a message to Lord Manfryd Mooton telling him to kill her. Since guest rights protected Nettles, Lord Mooton said no. He was afraid that Prince Daemon would kill them if they did what Rhaenyra told them to do, but he knew there was no way for him to win because not doing what Rhaenyra said would make him an enemy to the crown.

Manfryd switched his loyalties to Aegon II after Nettles and Daemon had left his house. He said that kings Viserys I and Jaehaerys I would never have asked him to do such a thing.

After the beloved Lordess Helaena Targaryen killed herself, there was a massive riot in King’s Landing right away. A lot of people said Rhaenyra told them to kill her. People in the city had turned against Rhaenyra because this story was so easy for them to believe. Soon, the riots got so bad that the Dragonpit was stormed, and her son Joffrey Velaryon, was killed.

Rhaenyra then left King’s Landing because she wouldn’t let Aegon out of sight after all her other children had died. She turned gray and worn as she drove past Rosby, Stokeworth, and Duskendale. She was scared and sad.

Rhaenyra had to sell her crown to get enough money to pay for a ticket on the Violande, a Braavosi cruise ship. Rhaenyra was tricked by Ser Alfred Broome when she got to Dragonstone. His men killed the rest of her Queensguard. Then, at Dragonstone, her half-brother Aegon II fed her to his dragon, Sunfyre.

What After the Death of Rhaenyra Targaryen

Rhaenyra’s three oldest sons all died in battle during the Dance of the Dragons. However, her two youngest sons, born to her second husband Prince Daemon, lived through the civil war. The war ended when Aegon II died in 131 AC without any male children. Rhaenyra and Daemon’s older son, Aegon III, took over as king.

He had seen his mother killed by a dragon. Rhaenyra’s second son with Prince Daemon would also become King Viserys II Targaryen. This is because both of Aegon III’s sons, Daeron I and Baelor I, died without children. People have different ideas about Rhaenyra’s life. Some see her as a rebel who tried to take her brother’s crown, while others see her as King Viserys I’s legitimate heir.

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