Rhaenyra's children are bastards, and Vaemond finally let everyone know in Episode 8, as loudly as he possibly could. For that, he lost his head, though Daemon let him keep his tongue. Obviously, the true parentage of Rhaenyra's children is a big deal.
Like Laenor Velaryon's sexuality, it was a “known secret” in the Red Keep that Harwin Strong was the father to Rhaenyra's three children: Jacaerys, Lucerys, and Joffrey.
It isn't explicitly stated in the show, but because we learn after episode six that all three boys have dark brown hair — and despite Rhaenyra and Laenor's matching blond color — it has been strongly implied that they are actually the children of Ser Harwin Strong, the Lord Commander of the City Watch.
In a poetic end to the deadly war, Rhaenyra's son with Daemon became King Aegon III. He was also wed to his cousin, Aegon II's daughter Jaehaera. Their marriage reunited both sides of House Targaryen.
In 117 AC, Rhaenyra gave birth to her third son, whom Laenor named Joffrey, in honor of Ser Joffrey Lonmouth.
Laenor and Rhaenyra had three sons together: Princes Jacaerys 'Jace', Lucerys 'Luke', and Joffrey 'Joff' Velaryon. It was rumored that those sons of Rhaenyra's were actually fathered by her lover, Harwin Strong, called "Breakbones".
With him, she found a love so deep it filled the void in her heart, not to mention her womb. In 196 AC, the year of their marriage, she painstakingly produced a set of twins, Aegon and Aella.
Prince Lucerys Velaryon, also known as Luke, was the secondborn son of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and her first husband, Ser Laenor Velaryon. He was a dragonrider whose dragon was Arrax.
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.
Rhaenyra has had a tough couple weeks. First, she finds out that her half-brother Aegon II has usurped the throne and that she will have to fight for her claim as queen. Then, she gives birth to a stillborn child. And finally she loses her second eldest son Lucerys to a dragon battle.
As the two dragons struggled in the Battle Above the Gods Eye, Daemon plunged from Caraxes, wielding his sword Dark Sister and stabbing it into Aemond's remaining eye. Both dragons crashed into the Gods Eye, and Vhagar drowned with Aemond's body still chained to the saddle while Caraxes died on the shore.
Laenor also happens to be black, adding further mystery to the children's appearance. House of the Dragon quickly explains the anomaly, revealing the boys were the result of Rhaenyra's affair with Ser Harwin Strong.
Daemon seduces Rhaenyra in such a way to cast aspersions on her virtue so that Viserys has no choice but to let him wed his niece, Targaryen style.
It is quickly confirmed that Alicent is right, however. Rhaenyra's sons are bastards. They're the illegitimate children of Rhaenyra and Ser Harwin Strong (Ryan Corr). The issue of the children's legitimacy is an open secret at court, with people turning a blind eye because the king does.
Daemon and Rhaenyra really commit to the whole "keeping the bloodline pure" thing by having three — count 'em, three — children together. So in addition to Rhaenyra's three sons with her first baby daddy Harwin (RIP), she has one daughter and two sons by baby daddy two, Daemon.
Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for House of the Dragon Episode 6! “The Princess and the Queen” opens up with Rhaenyra giving birth to her third child, another boy. Laenor decides they'll name him Joffrey after his late lover who Criston beat to death right before he and Rhaenyra wed.
So, who is the real father of Rhaenyra's children? In the show and in George R.R. Martin's Fire and Blood novel, it is heavily implied that Ser Harwin Strong, a knight and the captain of the City's Watch, is the true father of Jacaerys, Lucerys, and Joffrey.
Daemon stops himself from taking her virginity, though, fleeing the scene conflicted while leaving Rhaenyra to make her way home alone. Unfortunately, their tryst was witnessed by some little birds employed by Daemon's former paramour and current Mistress of Whisperers, Mysaria of the Bonkers Accent (Sonoya Mizuno).
As a youth, Rhaenyra was considered the most beautiful woman in the land, but Martin has repeatedly stated that at the time of her father's death, “[S]he was a pudgy girl and a stout woman, with a thick waist and a very large bosom.
After Visenya's funeral, we watch Rhaenyra finally be crowned and later on learn that, much like her father, she advocates for peace—much to the disappointment of her husband (and uncle) Daemon. This all changes, however, after finding out about the tragic death of another of her children: Lucerys.
Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones is a distant descendent of Rhaenyra Targaryen, who she has been compared to in House of the Dragon.
Most of the time, characters are killed in battle or poisoned, but Lucerys was eaten by a dragon.
Prosthetic designer confirms: the baby was deformed
“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. “
As such, Rhaenyra's baby in House of the Dragon wasn't born with greyscale, but rather a blood-related, Targaryen-specific dragon scale defect sometimes seen in their stillborn babies.
Rhaenyra has been pregnant with her daughter Visenya since House of the Dragon's latest and last time jump, and it is heartbreaking to see her deal with this loss. The way in which the scene plays out makes it especially disturbing. RELATED: House of the Dragon: Which Dragon is Daemon Singing To?