Unlock the Secret Chaos Behind House of the Dragon’s Targaryen Bloodline—Prepare to Have Your Mind Blown!
Alright, gather ’round, all ye seekers of Westerosi wisdom! Season 3 of House of the Dragon has swooped back onto our screens like a fiery dragon in a storm, bringing with it epic battles, political intrigue, and enough Targaryen twists to make your head spin faster than a dragon in flight. But with so many new faces – and more royal wig donning than a medieval barber shop – who exactly is who in this sprawling Targaryen saga? If you’ve caught yourself scratching your head, muttering, “Wait… who’s related to whom again?”, fear not. I’m here to break down the tangled family tree of Westeros’s most formidable clans – the Targaryens, Velaryons, and the ever-scheming Hightowers – so you can feast your eyes on every dragon rider, heir, and would-be king without missing a beat. Ready to navigate the labyrinth of loyalties, betrayals, and baby dragons? Let’s get into it.
7 min readLords and ladies of the court, it’s time to once again assemble in the throne room and bend the knee to the Queen of Television, third season to her name, and Lord Commander of the Screen: House of the Dragon. The HBO fantasy series made its grand return for season 3 this summer, ushering in two much-anticipated moments of the Game of Thrones prequel—the Battle of the Gullet and Rhaenyra’s taking of King’s Landing. But as the Targaryen family appears on our screens once more, season 3 also adds more challengers to the Iron Throne than ever before.
There’s not only several dragon riders in season 3, but new villains, and even more Targaryen children. So, if you find yourself thinkin, Who are all these people again?, you’ve come to the right place. Here’s a detailed breakdown of every Targaryen, Velaryon, and wig-wearing royal in Westeros.
King Viserys (Paddy Considine)
Viserys I Targaryen
Viserys (Paddy Considine) is the king of Westeros at the start of House of the Dragon. He is Rhaenyra’s (Emma D’Arcy) father and Daemon’s (Matt Smith) brother. Later, he marries Rhaenyra’s friend, Alicent (Olivia Cooke), and they have four children: Aegon II, Helaena, Aemond, and Daeron.
Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy)
Rhaenyra Targaryen
Rhaenyra is our main character. The daughter of the late King Viserys Targaryen, Rhaenyra is the rightful heir to the throne. However, when her father passed away in the middle of the night, his council conspired against her and plotted to give the crown to her younger half-brother, Aegon II (Tom-Glynn Carney). In season 3, Rhaenyra has finally ascended to the Iron Throne, where she now fends off detractors to her reign. Her allies include her uncle-husband Daemon, Hand of the Queen Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), and her five children: Jacaerys (deceased), Lucerys (deceased), Joffrey, Viserys, and Aegon III.
Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith).
Daemon Targaryen
Rhaenyra’s husband and her uncle, Daemon Targaryen, is a fierce warrior who rides the crimson dragon Ceraxes. He has four children across his two wives: Corlys’s daughter, Laena Velaryon, and Queen Rhaenyra. With Laena (deceased), he sired Baela and Rhaenys. (The former now rides Sheapstealer.) But with Rhaenyra, the couple had the young Viserys II (named after his late brother) and Aegon III (yes, yet another Aegon). Daemon also wields a powerful sword named “Dark Sister” that used to belong to the great Aegon the Conqueror’s sister-wife.
Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best).
Rhaenys Targaryen
Known as the “Queen Who Never Was,” Rhaenys (Eve Best) was famously passed over in the line of succession when a council at Harrenhal voted her first cousin Viserys to become the king instead. Before her death at Rook’s Rest, she was married to Corlys Velaryon, with whom she had two children—the believed-to-be-dead Laenor (Rhaenyra’s former husband) and the late Laena (Daemon’s former wife).
Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint)
Corlys Velaryon
The Lord of Driftmark and one of the wealthiest men in Westeros, Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint)—aka “the Sea Snake”—is the head of House Velaryon and naval commander of the royal fleet. Before King Aegon II’s ascension, he served on King Viserys’s council as the Master of Ships. Now, serves as Hand of the Queen to Rhaenyra. Season 2 also revealed that he sired two bastard sons: Addam and Alyn.
Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans).
Otto Hightower
Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) was the former Hand of the King, Queen Alicent’s father, and grandfather to Aegon II, Halaena, Prince Aemond, and Daeron. He was the primary driver in season 1 in the plot to marry his daughter to King Viserys, and a central figure in the coup to place his grandson on the throne. In season 3, episode 2, Rhaenyra beheaded him when he took King’s Landing.
Ormund Hightower (James Norton)
Ormund Hightower
Ormund (James Norton) is one of the latest additions to the cast. He is Otto’s brother and the Lord of the Hightower in Oldtown. He is also Alicent’s uncle, who looked after her son Daeron as his ward. That makes him grand-uncle to Daeron, Aegon II, and Aemond, as well. In season 3 so far, he acts as a new antagonist threatening Rhaenyra’s ascension to the Iron Throne.
Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke).
Alicent Hightower
Alicent and Rhaenyra were childhood friends in King’s Landing. Everything changed between them when she wed Rhaenyra’s much-older father, King Viserys, and essentially became her best friend’s stepmother. her children are Aegon II, Aemond, Helaena, and Daeron. Following Viserys’s death and Alicent’s son, Aegon II, abdicating the throne, the Queen Dowager now attempts to stop wanton violence from erupting between her side of the family and Rhaenyra’s.
King Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney).
Aegon II Targaryen
Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) is the former king. He is Alicent Hightower and Viserys Targaryen’s firstborn son, Rhaenyra’s younger half-brother, and husband to his sister-wife Helaena. Together, they have two young children of their own: Jaehaerys (deceased) and Jaehaera. After he was seriously rounded in the Battle of Rook’s Rest at the end of season 2, Aegon II now wanders Westeros with Larys Strong (Matthew Needham) in search of his former allies. Previously, Aegon II rode the late dragon Sunfyre.
Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell)
Aemond Targaryen
Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) is King Aegon II’s young brother and the second-born son of Alicent Hightower and Viserys Targaryen. Back in season 1, he lost his left eye in a childhood fight with Rhaenyra’s son Lucerys. In the season 1 finale, he drew first blood in the war and sought revenge by murdering Lucerys at Storm’s End. Then, in season 2, he wounded his own brother, the king, and named himself Lord Protector of the Realm in his stead. That is, before he was stabbed at Harrenhal and left for dead. Now, Rhaenyra is desperately searching for him to end this conflict and defeat his dragon Vhagar, the oldest and most fearsome dragon in Westeros.
Daeron Targaryen
Though we have yet to see his face, Daeron is Alicent and Viserys’s third-born son. At a very young age, he was sent to live in Oldtown with his grand-uncle, Ormund. He rides the young dragon Tessarion.
Heleana (Phia Saban)
Heleana Targaryen
Heleana is the former Queen of Westeros, who ascended to the throne when her brother-husband, Aegon II, came into power. Her parents are Viserys and Alicent, and her other brothers are Aemond and Daeron. She had two children with Aegon II—twins Jaehaerys (murdered) and Jaehaera. Now, she is a prisoner in King’s Landing alongside her mother, following Rhaenyra’s ascent to the throne.
Heleana’s daughter, Jaehaera
Jaehaera Targaryen
The young Jaehaera Targaryen was born a twin alongside her brother Jaeherys, who was murdered in the Red Keep by two mercenaries named Blood and Cheese. She now lives with her mother, Heleana, in King’s Landing.
Jacaerys Velaryon (Harry Collett).
Jacaerys “Jace” Velaryon
Rhaenyra’s first-born son, Jacaerys (Harry Collett), was secretly fathered by Ser Harwin Strong (before the knight burned to death in Harrenhal). He believed that his father is Leonor Velaryon, though the whispering world knows largely of his mother’s tryst. Desperate to seek revenge against Aemond for the murder of his younger brother, Lucerys, Jace was killed in the Battle of the Gullet at the beginning of season 3.
Lucerys Velaryon (Elliot Grihault)
Lucerys Velaryon
Rhaenyra’s second-born son, Lucerys (Elliot Grihault), was also fathered by Ser Harwin Strong. He was murdered by Aemond during a storming night on his dragon, which escalated the conflict between Rhaenyra and Aegon II’s claims to the throne.
Joffrey Velaryon
Rhaenyra’s third-born son, Joffrey, was the last to be fathered by Ser Harwin Strong while Rhaenyra was married to Laenor. His mother send him off to the Vale for protection when Dragonstone didn’t feel safe. But now that Rhaenyra’s taken King’s Landing, she’s ordered for him to return to the castle. He is now her eldest son and her heir to the throne.
Aegon III and Viserys II Targaryen
Aegon III and Viserys II are Rhaenyra and Daemon’s children. The young twins were born during the time jump between season 1 and season 2.
Laenor (John Macmillan)
Laenor Velaryon
Laenor (John Macmillan) is Corlys and Rhaenys’s first-born son, who was wed to Rhaenyra despite his sexual preferences. Though many believe that Jace, Lucerys, and Joffrey are his children, they are actually Harwin Strong’s. Currently, he is presumed dead but is actually missing. He escaped Driftmark and faked his own death before sailing to the East.
Laena (Nanna Blondell)
Laena Velaryon
Laena was Corlys and Rhaenys’s late daughter. She was also Laenor’s sister and Daemon’s second wife. Her and Daemon had two children before her death during childbirth: Baela and Rhaena.
Baela (Bethany Antonia)
Baela Targaryen
Baela is Corlys’s grand-daughter, and Daemon and Laena’s first-born daughter. That means she has very complicated connection to all of Rhaenyra and Daemon’s children as well. So far in season 3, she rode out on her dragon Moondancer to take part in the Battle of the Gullet. Mostly, she spends her time searching for signs of Vhagar and her youngest sister, Rhaena.
Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell)
Rhaena Targaryen
Rhaena is Baela’s younger sister, and Daemon and Laena’s second-born daughter. In the beginning of season 3, she conquered the wild dragon, Sheapstealer.
Addam (Clinton Liberty) and Alyn (Abubakar Salim)
Addam and Alyn of Hull
Addam (Clinton Liberty) and Alyn (Abubakar Salim) are Corlys’s bastard sons. The Sea Snake fathered them with a woman from Hull, born out of adultery during his time at sea. But after Addam claimed a dragon of his own and Alyn saved his life at the Battle of the Gullet, Corlys decided to name them as his heirs. Now, their father seeks to name them true Velaryons, to Rhaenyra’s protests.
Hugh (Kieren Bew)
Hugh Hammer
Okay! Let’s have some fun with the family tree now. In season 2, Rhaenyra reached out to find all the Targaryen bastard children in King’s Landing. Hugh, a blacksmith, eventually claimed the great dragon Vermithor. He later revealed that he is the bastard son of Princess Saera Targaryen (King Viserys’s aunt). That also makes him the grandson of King Jaehaerys I, the king before Viserys, as well as Daemon’s cousin.
Ulf (Tom Bennett)
Ulf White
Alongside Hugh and Addam, Ulf claimed a dragon in season 2 after realizing that he was a Targaryen bastard. He claims that he is the bastard son of Baelon Targaryen and the half-brother of the late King Viserys. That also makes him Daemon’s half-brother. He rides Silverwing, the dragon claimed by King Jaehaerys’s wife, Queen Alysanne.
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