Difference between revisions of "Rhaenyra Targaryen"

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==Character and Appearance==
 
==Character and Appearance==
Pampered from an early age, Rhaenyra was a pudgy girl and a stout woman, with a thick waist and a large bosom. She was very proud and stubborn, and there was a certain petulance to her small mouth.  
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She was very proud and stubborn, and there was a certain petulance to her small mouth. Rhaenyra was a stout woman, with a thick waist and a large bosom. She put on the weight after her three pregnancies, even though she was only 20.
  
 
Rhaenyra had her family's [[Valyria]]n looks, wearing her silver-gold hair in a long braid in the manner of [[Aegon I Targaryen|Aegon I]]'s warrior wife, [[Visenya Targaryen|Visenya]], though Rhaenyra was no warrior herself. She always dressed richly, favoring purple and maroon velvets and golden [[Myr]]ish lace in intricate patterns. Her bodice often glittered with pearls and diamonds, and there were always rings on her fingers. Whenever she was anxious, she would turn them compulsively, round and round.  
 
Rhaenyra had her family's [[Valyria]]n looks, wearing her silver-gold hair in a long braid in the manner of [[Aegon I Targaryen|Aegon I]]'s warrior wife, [[Visenya Targaryen|Visenya]], though Rhaenyra was no warrior herself. She always dressed richly, favoring purple and maroon velvets and golden [[Myr]]ish lace in intricate patterns. Her bodice often glittered with pearls and diamonds, and there were always rings on her fingers. Whenever she was anxious, she would turn them compulsively, round and round.  

Revision as of 00:29, 19 June 2014

House Targaryen crest.PNG
Rhaenyra Targaryen
House Targaryen crest.PNG
Rhaenyra.jpg
Rhaenyra by Amok©

Aliases
  • The Realm's Delight
  • The Whore of Dragonstone
  • King Maegor with Teats
  • Maegor's Teats
  • The Half-Year Queen
Titles
  • Princess of Dragonstone
  • Queen Regnant of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men (claimant)
  • Lady of the Seven Kingdoms (claimant)
Allegiances
Culture Valyrian
Born In 97 AC
Died In 130 ACDragonstone
Spouses
Books

Rhaenyra Targaryen, cheered as the Realm's Delight when she was young and later called the Half-Year Queen, was the first-born child of King Viserys I Targaryen. Her claim to the Iron Throne was challenged by her younger half-brother, Aegon II Targaryen, sparking the civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons. She was the mother of two kings,[1] Aegon III and Viserys II.

Character and Appearance

She was very proud and stubborn, and there was a certain petulance to her small mouth. Rhaenyra was a stout woman, with a thick waist and a large bosom. She put on the weight after her three pregnancies, even though she was only 20.

Rhaenyra had her family's Valyrian looks, wearing her silver-gold hair in a long braid in the manner of Aegon I's warrior wife, Visenya, though Rhaenyra was no warrior herself. She always dressed richly, favoring purple and maroon velvets and golden Myrish lace in intricate patterns. Her bodice often glittered with pearls and diamonds, and there were always rings on her fingers. Whenever she was anxious, she would turn them compulsively, round and round.

Though Rhaenyra could be charming, she was quick to anger and never forgot a slight. During the Dance of the Dragons, she wore her father's crown.[2]

History

Early Life

Rhaenyra was King Viserys I's only living child by his first wife, Aemma of House Arryn. She grew up expecting to become the first ruling Queen of Westeros.

When the second of her brothers died soon after being born, Viserys I himself began to treat Rhaenyra as his heir, keeping her by his side in court and at council meetings. Many of the nobles of the realm took note, so the young princess was surrounded by flatterers and favor-seekers all throughout her childhood.

Her mother's death and her father's second marriage to Alicent Hightower did little to disturb Rhaenyra's expectations, but when his new queen gave the king three healthy sons (Aegon, Aemond, Daeron) and a daughter (Helaena) in rapid succession, the seeds of the Dance of the Dragons were sown.[2]

In 111 AL, a great tourney was held at King's Landing on the fifth anniversary of King Visery's marriage to Queen Alicent. At the opening feast, the queen wore a green gown, whilst Princess Rhaenyra dressed dramatically in Targaryen red and black. Note was taken, and thereafter it became the custom to refer to “greens” and “blacks” when talking of the queen's party and the party of the princess, respectively. In the tourney itself, the blacks had much the better of it when Ser Criston Cole, wearing Princess Rhaenyra's favor, unhorsed all of the queen's champions, including two of her cousins and her youngest brother, Ser Gwayne Hightower.[3]

Rhaenyra, 16, took possession of Dragonstone and married Ser Laenor Velaryon in 113 AC, though it took the threat of removing her status as heir to the thrown to convince her to accept the marriage. Up until her marriage, Ser Criston Cole had been her constaint companion since she was seven.[4]

Laenor and Rhaenyra had three sons together: Jacaerys 'Jace' Velaryon, Lucerys 'Luke' Velaryon, and Joffrey 'Joff' Velaryon. All were near adulthood and had dragons of their own when Rhaenyra's father, Viserys I, died. It was rumored that those sons of Rhaenyra's were actually fathered by her lover, Ser Harwin Strong.[3]

Rhaenyra's other sons, the future Aegon III and Viserys II, were fathered by her second husband, her uncle Prince Daemon Targaryen, the most experienced warrior of his time. Her father's intention that she should follow him on the Iron Throne was confirmed by proclamation and the will of Viserys I.

Rhaenyra gave birth to a deformed stillborn girl, Visenya, at the time of Viserys's death.[3]

Dance of the Dragons

After the death of her father, King Viserys I, his will stated that Princess Rhaenyra would succeed him. However, Ser Criston Cole, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard and possibly the former lover of Rhaenyra, defied the king's will and instead crowned Rhaenyra's half-brother, Alicent's son Aegon II, who was ten years younger. This brought about a Targaryen civil war, known as the Dance of the Dragons, in which dragonriders fought each other;[5] during the war Rhaenyra rode her dragon, Syrax. [6]

At the time of her father's death, Rhaenyra was on Dragonstone awaiting the birth of her sixth child. The Green conspirators in King's Landing ensured that the news did not reach her until after all her supporters in the Red Keep were dead or imprisoned, and Aegon II's coronation had already occurred. When news did reach her, she went into a black fury and went into early labor, producing a deformed, stillborn daughter. She blamed this tragedy on the enemies who had stolen her crown. After Ser Steffon Darklyn of the Kingsguard arrived on Dragonstone with some other Black supporters who had fled the Green coup, bringing her father's crown with them, Rhaenyra had her own coronation.

To gain more support to take the crown from her brother, Rhaenyra sent her son Jace on his dragon to treat with the Arryns, Manderlys, and Starks, and her son Luke to treat with Lord Borros Baratheon at Storm's End. Luke's mission was thought to be the safer, but he arrived at Storm's End to find Queen Alicent's younger son Aemond already there. Aemond, riding Vhagar, killed Luke over Shipbreaker Bay as he attempted to leave after failing to gain Lord Borros' allegiance. The news of Luke's death devastated his mother.

Rhaenyra took the capital and sat in the throne for a brief time. Although Rhaenyra was in armor, Septon Eustace[7] claimed that those present witnessed the throne leaving several cuts on her legs and left hand. The dripping blood was taken as a sign that the throne had rejected her; her days as ruler would be few. Rhaenyra came to exact too much revenge on the denizens of King's Landing, and the smallfolk turned against her. She grew so cruel and vindictive that they named her "King Maegor with Teats." After hearing of the Two Betrayers, she grew paranoid and declared Addam Velaryon, Corlys Velaryon, and Nettles all traitors.

After the Storming of the Dragonpit Rhaenyra fled King's Landing. Terrorized and despairing, she grew grey and haggard as she traveled past Rosby, Stokeworth, and Duskendale. Once she reached Dragonstone, Rhaenyra was betrayed by Ser Alfred Broome, whose men slew the remainder of her Queensguard. Her half-brother Aegon II then had her fed to his own dragon, Sunfyre, at Dragonstone. King Aegon II decreed that Rhaenyra was never a queen and that she be referred to only as princess in all chronicles and court records.

Rhaenyra's three sons she had with her Velaryon husband or her Strong lover all died fighting during the Dance of the Dragons, but her two sons by her second husband, Prince Daemon, survived the civil war. The war ended when Aegon II died shortly after his victory in 131 AC with no male issue, and was succeeded by Rhaenyra's and Daemon's elder son, the boy Aegon III, who had seen his mother's death by dragon.[8] Rhaenyra's second son with Prince Daemon would also later rule as King Viserys II.

Recent Events

A Storm of Swords

Stannis Baratheon mentions Rhaenyra to Davos Seaworth while listing historical figures killed for treason.[1]

Quotes

Daemon Blackfyre, the brothers Toyne, the Vulture King, Grand Maester Hareth... traitors have always paid with their lives ... even Rhaenyra Targaryen. She was daughter to one king and mother to two more, yet she died a traitor's death for trying to usurp her brother's crown.[1]

- Stannis Baratheon to Davos Seaworth

Family

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rodrik
Arryn
 
Daella
 
 
 
 
 
Baelon
 
Alyssa
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Aemma Arryn
 
 
 
 
 
Viserys I
 
 
 
 
 
Alicent Hightower
 
Daemon*
 
Aegon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
unknown son
 
Baelon
 
Rhaenyra
 
Daemon*
 
Aegon II
 
Helaena
 
Aemond
 
Daeron
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Aegon III
 
Viserys II
 
Visenya
 
Jaehaerys
 
Jaehaera
 
Maelor
 

References and Notes