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 and Daemon's sons Aegon, Viserys, and Visenya Targaryen. Sorry for the spoiler, but we did watch Daemon and Rhaenyra get married in last week's episode, so you probably knew this was coming! We haven't seen them yet in the show, but Daemon and Rhaenyra have three sons together.
Jacaerys Velaryon Is Rhaenyra's Firstborn Son and Heir
Firstborn son of Rhaenyra and her first husband Laenor Velaryon, Jacaerys was affectionately known to his family as Jace.
She gives birth to six children: three Velaryon sons (rumored to be Harwin Strong's bastard children), two full-blooded Targaryen sons, and one Targaryen daughter, all of whom are involved in House Targaryen's Blacks versus Greens succession war.
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.
The comes the final blow: Rhaenyra's baby daughter – whom they'd named Visenya, according to George R.R. Martin's Fire and Blood – is stillborn after a brutal, bloody labor. This is similar to the book, where the baby also has dragon-like birth defects, including a hole in her chest and a small tail.
The sides — nicknamed the Greens and the Blacks — dominate the latter half of the season, and any potential future seasons. Daemon, Rhaenyra and Alicent have 11 kids among them by the eighth episode, which is set about six years after the "Driftmark" episode.
“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.
Alas, the baby did not survive and while it wasn't shown very well on camera, there were debates among fans whether the baby was normal-looking or deformed.
Nonetheless, Rhaenyra and Daemon's youngest son becomes King Viserys II Targaryen, with the crown passing through his line. New episodes of House of the Dragon release Sundays on HBO/HBO Max.
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 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.
Rhaenyra cradles her daughter and weeps. Though the Silent Sisters come to prepare the body, Rhaenyra wraps her child in funeral cloths by herself. Visenya is cremated on Dragonstone just as Ser Erryk Cargyll arrives with the crown of King Viserys I, and Rhaenyra is crowned queen at her daughter's funeral.
Daemon and Rhaenyra had two sons together, Prince Aegon the Younger, born in 120 AC, and Prince Viserys, born in 122 AC.
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.
One month premature, Visenya was a stillborn. The labour had begun when Princess Rhaenyra heard the news from King's Landing, that her father, King Viserys I Targaryen, had died, and that her half-brother, Prince Aegon, had claimed the throne and had been crowned King, despite Rhaenyra having been Viserys' heir.
She later married Ser Laenor Velaryon and gave birth to three sons; Jacaerys, Lucerys and Joffrey Velaryon, although many believed they were instead sons of Rhaenyra's lover, Ser Harwin Strong.
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.
In the Season 1 finale of the “Game of Thrones” prequel show, Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) fulfilled the promise of the villain energy he's been giving off. He killed Rhaenyra's son, Luke (Elliot Grihault), which is a game changer.
He died during the Storming of the Dragonpit trying to ride Syrax, his mother's dragon, in order to save the dragons in the Dragonpit, but the dragon rejected him and he crashed to the ground, dying instantly.
The show has got the speed of the disease correct. King Viserys has lived with leprosy for many decades and the disease has grown very slowly.
The decision to depict the richest family in Westeros as Black came from showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik, who acknowledged the frequent criticism Game of Thrones received for its lack of diversity. "The world is very different now than it was 10 years ago when [Game of Thrones] all started.
Eventually, it's Daemon and Rhaenyra's two sons who end up sitting on the Iron Throne, but is that for a future series? The Velaryons survive, but in recent years Ser Corlys has come to support the Greens, after falling out with Rhaenyra and being accused of treason (unfairly).