One of the first times we see Rhaenyra as truly angry throughout the entirety of Season 1 is during the traumatic miscarriage of her daughter Visenya.
The shock of the loss of her father, combined with the Greens' ruthless betrayal sends her into early labor. Without modern medicine, a baby born so early had very little chance of survival in the best of circumstances - and in these terrible conditions the baby, a girl named Visenya, is stillborn.
Rhaenyra does not give birth till the next moon cycle, in Fire and Blood, but her anger at being taken her birthright by her half-brother, Aegon II Targaryen, drives her to labour. Rhaenyra screamed and cursed Prince Aegon, Queen Alicent, and her baby within her, for three days.
When finally did give birth to the baby, it is said that the child had a hole where her heart should have been, a tail, and scales for skin—a monster, as her mother had cursed her to be. Upon her death, Rhaenyra swore yet another vow. “She was my only daughter, and they killed her.
Firstborn son of Rhaenyra and her first husband Laenor Velaryon, Jacaerys was affectionately known to his family as Jace. There were abundant rumors spread by Queen Alicent about the legitimacy of Jace's parentage, with murmurs circulating through court that his true father was Ser Harwin Strong.
Regardless of this, Rhaenyra's pregnancy was soon announced, and in the waning days of 114 AC she gave birth to their first child. Laenor wished to name the child Joffrey, but was overruled by his father, who named the boy Jacaerys. Rhaenyra gave birth to a second son a year later, who was named Lucerys.
Rhaenyra, recalling the death of her mother in childbirth, refuses help from her maidens as the pregnancy wreaks havoc on her body. Knowing something is wrong, she gives birth all by herself. The baby doesn't survive. The family and its inner circle gather as the child's body is burned on a funeral pyre.
In the book, Visenya was described as being born with dragon-like defects, including scales, a tail, and a twisted body. Rhaenyra's baby did end up having scale-like defects and a malformed body in House of the Dragon, which aligns with the occasional reports of Targaryen women bearing dragon-like stillborn children.
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.
Rhaenyra Targaryen was getting married to Ser Laenor Velaryon, last we saw her. In this episode, the first thing we see is Rhaenyra giving birth. It's a boy! Except it's not the Rhaenyra we know. Now 10 years older, the princess is played by Emma D'Arcy instead of Milly Alcock.
Daemon shows wife Rhaenyra the message; she recognizes that if Luke's claim to the title is questioned, so could the legitimacy of her three sons with Harwin Strong. Daemon puts a hand on Rhaenyra's belly. She is pregnant with their child.
Aegon III, aka Aegon the Younger: Rhaenyra and Daemon's first child together. Aegon Targaryen, aka Jon Snow: Yes, he comes much later, when a song of ice and fire plays out. But he could be the prince that was promised, though that's still up for debate.
Spoiler alert for the books. In George R.R. Martin's fictitious history of the Targaryen family, we learn that Rhaenyra does eventually have children with her uncle Daemon: two boys named Viserys II and Aegon III, both of whom eventually become king.
Rhaenrya takes the news of her son's death none too well. The look she gives the camera upon Daemon delivering the news suggests she is ready to burn Alicent's family alive. The Season 1 finale was named “The Black Queen,” and it seems that Rhaenyra is finally ready to take on that title.
As a result, more devastating and gruesome deaths are to follow, with one of the war's unfortunate victims being Queen Rhaenyra's son Joffrey Velaryon. In Fire & Blood, the source material for House of the Dragon, Joffrey dies when he tries riding Rhaenyra's dragon Syrax out of the Dragonpit and falls off of her.
Fatally attacked, Arrax fell into the sea, with Luce meeting the same fate. Their bodies were only found three days later, serving as a feast for crabs and seabirds. It is the news of her son's death that determines the desire for revenge and extermination of the Hightowers for Rhaenyra.
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.
The episode doesn't really beat around the bush when revealing that Harwin Strong (Ryan Corr) is the father of Rhaenyra's children. He's there soon after baby Joffrey is born so he can meet him, and later on in the episode Jacaerys (Leo Hart) even asks his mom if Harwin is his real dad.
In 196 AC, the year of their marriage, she painstakingly produced a set of twins, Aegon and Aella. Another set, Visenya and Valarr, came in 197 AC. After her troubled deliveries, it was said Rhaenyra had nearly beaten a serving girl to death for having claimed the princess would die in labour.
One of the first times we see Rhaenyra as truly angry throughout the entirety of Season 1 is during the traumatic miscarriage of her daughter Visenya.
Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen labored for three days in her apartments in the Sea Dragon Tower of Dragonstone. One month premature, Visenya was a stillborn.
Rhaenyra's baby died during childbirth.
We only briefly see Visenya in the TV series, but Fire and Blood, the book House of the Dragon is based on, gives a detailed description of the malformed baby. According to the book Visenya, like Maegor the cruel's children, was born with scaled dragon-like skin and a small tail.
Rhaenyra's three eldest sons all died fighting during the Dance of the Dragons, but her two youngest sons, the sons by her second husband, Prince Daemon, survived the civil war.
One the other side of the divide, we're introduced to Princess Rhaenyra's children, Jacaerys, Lucerys and baby Joffrey, who is born at the beginning of the episode.
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.