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.
Jacaerys, Rhaenyra's eldest son, and his two younger brothers have spent their short lives surrounded by whispers that their real father was Ser Harwin Strong.
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".
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.
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.
Daemon and Rhaenyra share two children together: Aegon III and Viserys II.
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.
In 117 AC, Rhaenyra gave birth to her third son, whom Laenor named Joffrey, in honor of Ser Joffrey Lonmouth.
House of the Dragon on HBO has a lot of drama, but none more significant than the paternity issue surrounding Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen's three oldest sons: Jacaerys Velaryon, Lucerys Velaryon, and Joffrey Velaryon. These issues and more came to a head in the episode “The Lord of the Tides.”
5. Why Rhaenyra's Children Have Brown Hair. While the Targaryen family mostly has stark white-blond hair, there's one kin within the bloodline that doesn't fit: Rhaenyra's sons with husband Laenor Velaryon.
Prosthetic designer confirms: the baby was deformed
The dead girl had been named Visenya. “ The baby was clearly among those rare cases in the Targaryen line, where it was described that an unsuccessful birth had produced a stillborn baby with dragon-like features.
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.
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.
We last saw her find out the truth in "We Light the Way" that Rhaenyra lost her virginity to Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel).
1 Daemon Probably Loves Rhaenyra
However, Fire & Blood gives some insights into Daemon's character, which House of the Dragon only touches on in the last episodes of Season 1. Daemon shows his genuine care and attention to Rhaenyra several times before the two marry.
Robert's kids all sort of look like him, but Rhaegar's children don't look like him, they look like their mother. Robert does have some Targaryen heritage, but blond hair is recessive so we can guess that Robert doesn't have any recessive blond genes and thus all of his kids have dark hair.
Even Laenor, Rhaenyra's husband, hints that he knows the princes are not biologically his children in Episode 6. Despite the seeming acceptance of the children's true parents, whispers in the Red Keep intensify following Harwin's fight with Criston, the latter of whom teased the former about his secret fatherhood.
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.
Across the course of the first season, Rhaenyra gave birth to six children. All of her children were boys except the last pregnancy -- which ended in heart-rending tragedy.
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?
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.
In the books, they have three: daughter Visenya, who does not survive infancy; and two sons, Aegon III and Viserys II, who will grow up to be next Kings of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men.
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.
Her next child whom she's now pregnant with, however, will be a different story. In House of the Dragon episode 8, Rhaenyra Targaryen is pregnant with her daughter Visenya. Despite Rhaenyra and Daemon's excitement over having another child, their daughter will tragically never take a breath of air.
King Aerys II Targaryen ("The Mad King")
Aerys II is a direct descendant of King Viserys I Targaryen through his daughter Rhaenyra.