Solely two episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms have aired thus far on HBO within the 2026 TV schedule, however the latest Recreation of Thrones spinoff didn’t even want greater than the primary 5 minutes to show how totally different it’s from Home of the Dragon. One present is sort of completely populated by Targaryens and their relations; Targaryens are few and much between on the opposite. A number of generations have handed between the timeline of Home of the Dragon, so the collection actually may very well be taken fairly individually.
That mentioned, there’s one component of Knight of the Seven Kingdoms that I consider vindicates Rhaenyra within the TV model of Westeros. It feels extra correct to George R.R. Martin’s Fireplace & Blood than the present truly primarily based on that fictional historical past e book. For that, although, we do have to begin out with a department of the Targaryen household tree that has barely been explored simply but.
Be aware for spoiler-phobes: there aren’t any spoilers for Home of the Dragon Season 3 or A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms past Episode 2, however I’ll contact on George R.R. Martin’s Targaryen lore from Fireplace & Blood.
The Targaryens Of A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms So Far
The Targaryens rode into the tourney within the second episode, with the rapid joke of Baelor being introduced as “Firstborn son of King Daeron the Good, Prince of Dragonstone, Hand of the King, and Inheritor to the Iron Throne,” adopted anticlimactically with “…and his brother, Maekar.” By the tip of the episode, we had these updates on the Targaryens within the present:
King Daeron’s Sons
- Crown Prince Baelor, first in line to the Iron Throne
- Prince Maekar
Baelor’s Son
- Prince Valarr, second in line to the Iron Throne
Maekar’s Sons
- Prince Daeron (formally lacking)
- Prince Aerion
- Prince Aegon (formally lacking)
Whereas we’re sure to study extra about these Targaryens within the coming weeks of Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, there are already some issues clear. For one, Baelor seems to be the accountable and respectable inheritor to the throne, whereas Maekar will get to be snarky and sulky as a youthful son. Baelor has darkish hair and a largely darkish beard, whereas Maekar has hair as white as any we’ve seen on Home of the Dragon.
Prince Valarr hasn’t been featured a lot, however what we’ve got seen of him signifies that he’s 1) courageous in a joust, 2) succesful on a horse, 3) much less grating than his cousin, and 4) seemingly dark-haired.
Aerion is the one one in all Maekar’s sons overtly presenting himself as such thus far, with the opposite two MIA and – to paraphrase Dunk – hopefully not useless. He too has hair so white that it’s worthy of Daemon Targaryen on Home of the Dragon. (His angle can also be harking back to Daemon on HOTD.)
Bear With Me: Genetics, Targaryen-Type
There’s been no indication in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms that Baelor and Maekar are something apart from full-blooded siblings with the identical mom and father, with George R.R. Martin’s lore telling us that these dad and mom are Daeron II Targaryen and Myriah Martell of Dorne.
One brother and his son have the white hair that followers have come to affiliate with Targaryens way back to the pilot of Recreation of Thrones; the opposite brother and his son have darkish hair they might have inherited from their Dornish mom and grandmother.
We don’t have knowledge factors for any of Daeron and Myriah’s different kids to say which father or mother they take after, however Baelor and Maekar are sufficient to show that a number of Targaryens may be born to the identical dad and mom and prove to have both darkish hair or the normal white. Each brothers have the identical quantity of Targaryen blood from their father, and Baelor appears fairly standard as subsequent in line for the throne.
So the place was this acceptance from the realm when Rhaenyra was the inheritor and had three dark-haired sons?!
Rhaenyra’s Eldest Sons Might Have Been Laenor’s (In Concept)
Look, I do know and you recognize and anyone who has watched Home of the Dragon is aware of that Rhaenyra’s oldest three sons are literally the kids of Ser Harwin Sturdy relatively than her first husband, Laenor Velaryon. However Jace, Luke, and Joffrey have been all bodily born of Rhaenyra’s physique, so there was no denying that they’d as a lot Targaryen blood as any member of the household who married a non-relative, and having darkish hair shouldn’t have been sufficient for the realm to declare them bastards.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ dark-haired inheritor to the throne with a white-haired youthful brother is seen as completely legitimate by the point of the spinoff; the identical ought to have been true for Rhaenyra on the time of the Dance of the Dragons. No one had any precise proof that Jace, Luke, and Joff have been Harwin’s sons, as they have been claimed as sons by Laenor and accepted as grandsons by King Viserys. Legally, they weren’t bastards, and blaming their appears to be like wasn’t legitimate.
What Home Of The Dragon Might Have Finished Higher For Rhaenyra
After his descriptions of his “abysmal” relationship with showrunner Ryan Condal (and HBO’s CEO acknowledging the “dysfunction”), I’ve little doubt that George R.R. Martin would agree with me that Home of the Dragon might have accomplished some issues significantly better in translating Fireplace & Blood to the small display screen. So far as I am involved, the present sabotaged Rhaenyra from the leap by not matching Rhaenys’ look to the e book.
As a result of in Fireplace & Blood, we study that because the daughter of Prince Aemon Targaryen and Woman Jocelyn Baratheon, Rhaenys had darkish hair. That ought to have been true in Fireplace & Blood as nicely to match with the Recreation of Thrones canon about dark-haired, blue-eyed Baratheons that helped Ned join the dots about Jaime and Cersei.
E-book Laenor nonetheless had the normal pale Targaryen hair, but when Rhaenys had been given her darkish hair within the present, Rhaenyra might have gotten away with claiming that her three youngsters acquired their darkish hair from their grandmother. Present Rhaenyra having an affair with Harwin Sturdy, and seeing from Jace that their kids would seemingly take after their father, appears ludicrous.
Home of the Dragon has accomplished many characters soiled, however the coloration of Eve Greatest’s wig managed to sabotage Rhaenyra as an grownup. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms isn’t afraid of Targaryens with darkish hair (who aren’t crimson herrings in human kind like Jon Snow), and extra room for doubt about Rhaenyra’s youngsters would have made the battle between the Greens and the Blacks extra compelling.
So, I’m going to take Baelor and Valarr’s hair from their Dornish mom as vindication for Rhaenyra, whose dark-haired sons ought to have been accepted as respectable by the realm. (Additionally, it’s potential that the lengthy anticipate HOTD Season 3 is attending to me.)
See extra of how A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms handles Targaryens with new episodes on Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on HBO and/or streaming with an HBO Max subscription.
