Cooke said that she and D'Arcy” have “definitely” talked about Alicent and Rhaenyra being “each other's first love,” although by this point “too much has happened and too much time has passed to probably even recognize those fledgling feelings.”
In multiple interviews, Milly Alcock and Emily Carey, who portray Rhaenyra and Alicent in the first five episodes of the season, have confirmed that they played their characters as having a romantic connection, not just a close, platonic one.
In Fire & Blood, however, Rhaenyra is in love with Daemon from a young age. Things change after she meets Criston Cole. Nevertheless, George R. R. Martin's books show that Rhaenyra's first love was Daemon, whereas House of the Dragon has a slower build-up between the two.
Viserys Targaryen and Alicent Hightower
Alicent doesn't marry Viserys because she loves him; she does it because she was raised to be married off to a powerful man so as to strengthen the position of her house.
After going from best friends to enemies as teenagers, Alicent and Rhaenyra finally make genuine amends in House of the Dragon episode 8.
After Daemon's first wife dies, he gets together with Laena Velaryon—who was initially suggested as a bride for King Viserys. They have two daughters. Meanwhile, Rhaenyra marries Laena's brother, Laenor Velaryon, and they have several kids.
Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) and Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) finally had sex on House of the Dragon. 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.
Cooke said that she and D'Arcy” have “definitely” talked about Alicent and Rhaenyra being “each other's first love,” although by this point “too much has happened and too much time has passed to probably even recognize those fledgling feelings.”
After a time jump of three years, things have not improved between Alicent and Rhaenyra. Now they are stepmother and stepdaughter, and their daily lives include the tension between them. In that time, Alicent has born Viserys' son, who many expect to replace Rhaenyra as heir, but Alicent is not one of those people.
In the book, she's nine years older than Princess Rhaenyra, but in Dragon they're meant to be around the same age: 15 years old as of episode 1, then roughly 17 or 18 during episodes 3-5. Emily Carey, the actress who plays young Alicent, is 19 years old.
Rhaenyra will have two marriages (and two lovers) in House of the Dragon, with six children (technically three by each husband, the suspicion that the first three are by another man is a source of much violence and discord in Westeros).
We last saw her find out the truth in "We Light the Way" that Rhaenyra lost her virginity to Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel).
Although Rhaenyra's mother's death initially made her fear the notion of bearing heirs, adult Rhaenyra Targaryen now has five sons in House of the Dragon – three healthy boys with Laenor Velaryon (fathered by Harwin Strong) and two silver-haired boys with her husband Daemon Targaryen.
4 Affair With Harwin Strong
Rhaenyra chose to sleep with Harwin Strong, and the affair brought them 3 children. These children lived as Targaryens, with many bringing into question the true father of these three Strong boys. Through this affair, Rhaenyra furthers the distance of former relationships.
He Mistakes Alicent For Rhaenyra
Viserys put a lot of stock in Aegon the Conqueror's dream. It's this dream that he relays to his daughter, to pass on as family lore and emphasize the importance of keeping power in the family.
Alicent hates Rhaenyra because she's in love with Criston Cole and believes the princess betrayed her by having an affair with him. This has never been explicitly stated on the show but was confirmed by Emily Carey, who played the younger Queen Alicent.
Her half-brother, Alicent's son Aegon II, feeds her to his dragon, Sunfyre. Alicent Hightower, aka Queen Alicent, survives the Dance of the Dragons. However, she was confined to her chambers in the last year of her life, and in the books, she goes insane and dies during an outbreak of Winter Fever in 133 AC.
Daemon, according to Mushroom's version of the story, takes Alicent's virginity, resulting in Otto, Hand of the King, loathing Daemon. Mushroom further says that Alicent had affairs with Old King Jaehaerys when he was ill and Viserys before Queen Aemma died.
Alicent outlived Rhaenyra, but her son lived only half a year after triumphing over his half-sister. Both of his brothers had already died in the war. Alicent's remaining grandson, Prince Maelor, had died as well, leaving only her granddaughter Jaehaera, who married Rhaenyra's son Aegon III.
The idea is that Rhaenyra might have slept with someone before marriage and lied to Alicent about it breaking them apart. The moment Alicent arrives at the wedding wearing her father's house color, green, she picks her side and fully dissolves any friendship that might have lingered between her and Rhaenyra.
Rhaenyra sleeps with Ser Criston Cole, Otto Hightower spills
He initially tells the princess to stop but soon accepts her advances, and the two sleep together. The two have been great friends and Ser Criston is one of the few people Rhaenyra trusts so, can't say we didn't see this coming!
In the book Fire and Blood, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen does indeed marry Ser Laenor Velaryon. The pair go on to - officially at least - have three sons.
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.
Rhaenyra and Daemon's Marriage
Soon after being widowed, Daemon and Rhaenyra marry each other in secret when he is 39 years old, and she is 23. Their marriage causes a huge scandal at court and another rift between Daemon and Viserys, but it is eventually accepted. The couple has two sons together, Aegon and Viserys.
Aegon III, aka Aegon the Younger: Rhaenyra and Daemon's first child together.