He isn't a “deadbeat” dad to his daughters. The
Like many other Targaryens, Daemon and Rhaenyra are both related by blood and (eventually) romantically involved. Rhaenyra is Daemon's niece, as the daughter of his older brother, King Viserys I.
At the end of the day, Daemon chose Laena and Laena chose Daemon. 'He's trying his best,' Laena told their daughter Rhaena, and that was how she knew Daemon loved them.
In 97 AC, Daemon married Lady Rhea Royce, the heir to Runestone, but he disliked both her and the Vale of Arryn; Daemon referred to his wife as his "bronze bitch". During the Great Council of 101 AC, Daemon supported the claim of Prince Viserys, as it would make Daemon the heir after his brother.
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.
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. Not only that, but Rhaenyra and Damon literally had sex on the beach.
When Daemon takes her to a brothel later that evening in King's Landing, he gives into temptation and although the two don't actually have sex, they get close to it before Daemon abandons her.
We know that while the two came close, they never actually did the deed. Daemon, thrown off by his lack of ability to shock Rhaenyra, left her to get drunk and pass out. While Rhaenyra did go on to sleep with Criston Cole — the big problem of the episode — Viserys (Paddy Considine) was made more cautious of Daemon.
Rhaenyra's sexual initiation was conducted by Daemon, who “didn't finish” but was expelled and took the blame as if he had. Although she has married another and had other lovers, she clearly has a crush on her uncle, whom she secretly marries (after becoming a widow and mistress).
Daemon is really angry because Rhaenyra is being passive. In his mind she wants to make peace with the greens when they possibly killed or poisoned Viserys (we see him checking for poison in ep 8 and he accuses Alicent of killing Viserys in ep 10) and they usurped the throne. Something that he very much wants.
But, while time may heal all wounds, 10 years certainly wasn't enough time for Alicent's wounds to heal over being lied to by Rhaenyra. We last saw her find out the truth in "We Light the Way" that Rhaenyra lost her virginity to Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel).
While another source debunks their affair and states Daemon simply treated Nettles as a daughter, the dragonrider was likely impressed with her courage – similar to why he fell for Rhaenyra.
But before we get to see what happens, the scene cuts to the Targaryens out at sea. Later on in the episode, Corlys and Rhaenys deliver the news to Viserys that Rhea is dead, explaining that her neck and skull were crushed after she fell off of her horse. So yes, unfortunately, Rhea dies in this episode.
That's right, during the Oct. 2 episode of House of the Dragon, Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) and Daemon (Matt Smith) stopped fighting their feelings for one another and finally got together. However, this was more than just an illicit liaison, as Rhaenyra and Daemon got married at the end of the episode.
Prince Daemon marries Rhaenyra following the death of his second wife, Laena Velaryon, and they have three children.
The romance that has long been teased in “House of the Dragon” is finally official. The seventh episode of HBO's “Game of Thrones” prequel starts with a funeral and ends with the wedding of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and her uncle Daemon.
It was abundantly clear in the season finale that Daemon truly values Rhaenyra as the queen, and it doesn't appear to be for his own gain. All of his actions indicate that he looks to her as his leader even before she's taken power and has every intention to get her to her rightful throne.
By the time we reach episode six — which occurs more than 10 years later in the show's timeline — Harwin was revealed to be Rhaenyra's primary lover and the father to her three children.
Corr continued: "For an audience to believe us, we have to show all shades of the character. So we spoke about that in great detail and Miguel and Ryan also made it paramount that Harwin very much loves Rhaenyra. He lives his life in service of this love and of his family."
Or, at least, his little dragon knows something his brain doesn't. According to co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik, in a featurette that aired after the episode: “Ultimately, his impotence in the scene is a reflection of the fact that he knows, deep down, that what he's doing isn't right.”
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.
After berating Daemon for “abandoning” her to marry the now-deceased Laena Velaryon, Rhaenyra makes it clear that she has feelings for her uncle and wishes to strengthen her position in Westeros by marrying him. The pair then have sex.
By House of the Dragon's fourth episode, Rhaenyra is around 18 years old and Daemon is 34. "The idea that a teenage girl is in any way able to consent to that sexual interaction is a mess.
What Does Daemon Targaryen Really Want? In House of the Dragon episode 4's ending, Viserys deduces that Daemon's real motivation in seducing Rhaenyra was to get himself closer to the Iron Throne.
Rhaenyra's Relationship With Criston Soiled His White Cloak
In "King of the Narrow Sea", Rhaenyra seduced Ser Criston after she herself was denied by her uncle Daemon (Matt Smith). She and her paramour spent the night together, and she was warm towards Ser Criston afterward.