My statement will sound confusing, but it will eventually make sense. The first Rhaenys (Eve Best) we meet, the Queen Who Never Was from House of the Dragon, is the second. We still don’t know the one who gave rise to the descendants, perhaps when Aegon’s Conquest comes to fruition we will have on our screens the fascinating story of the beautiful Queen whose tragic fate broke the heart of her husband/brother. Not so different from what we will see with Rhaenys II in the second season of the series. In any case, she is a relevant character for us to comment on.

Rhaenys I: the love of Aegon the conqueror’s life

There were only three Rhaenys throughout the Targaryens saga, all with tragic ends, but the most famous of them is precisely the “original”, the younger sister of Aegon the Conqueror.

As the first king of a unified Westeros, Aegon chose his two sisters as his wives, beginning not only familial incest but polygamy. Visenya, the eldest, had a pragmatic relationship with her husband, but, according to the story, he married Rhaenys out of passion. In any case, they were a united trio and together they conquered the Seven Kingdoms for the Targaryens.

Rhaenys was known for her charm and keen sense of diplomacy, which contrasted with her sister Visenya’s stern, warlike demeanor. The two liked each other, as far as we know, even if they were “competing” for Aegon’s attention and succession. But the friendliness of the youngest Targaryen was undeniable: considered beautiful, she was also kind, playful, and impulsive, passionate about music, dance, and poetry. There was only one thing she loved even more than anything and that was flying with Meraxes, her dragon as formidable as Balerion and Vhagar, ridden by Aegon and Visenya respectively.

The conquest of Westeros and reign with the brothers

Rhaenys personally helped with the conquest by folding a dozen houses in the name of the Targaryens, and it was she who crowned her brother. The only one of the seven kingdoms that still rebelled against unification was Dorne and they would soon become legendary, in part, because of Rhaenys.

But in King’s Landing, it was the sisters who took care of the Kingdom’s decisions, and Rhaenys was famous for defending women’s causes and punishing abuse. Extremely popular among vassals and subjects, the Queen brought sympathy to Aegon I, important for establishing order. She became known for arranging marriages between distant houses. Everyone liked Rhaenys, whose popularity was eternalized with her death.

Aegon I’s preference

There is a famous phrase in Westeros that claims Aegon spent ten nights with Rhaenys for every night he spent with Visenya. And that wasn’t just because of her sister’s beauty. There was personality compatibility and many claimed that her joy was more than contagious. She helped a lot with a deeper emotional connection with her husband/brother.

It also influenced the fact that Aegon and Rhaenys shared interests in exploration and adventure and that their help in the conquest of Westeros was so relevant. The two had a son, Aenys, who, as he was the first, was the successor.

The mystery in Dorne

Unlike the other kingdoms of Westeros, Dorne resisted Aegon’s initial conquest and this proved fatal for Rhaenys I.

On her first incursion to the place, she flew over and visited several cities, ignoring the Dornish spearmen in the Prince’s Pass, but in all of them only finding empty castles and only women, children, and old people in the cities. Everywhere men and lords were absent. When she finally arrived at Sunspear, only eighty-year-old Meria Martell, Princess of Dorne, awaited her. Meria told Rhaenys to inform Aegon that Dorne would neither fight nor kneel and that it would never have a king. The threat seemed more than arrogant, just delusional, so Rhaenys warned Meria that the Targaryens would return. In this way, Dorne remained the only kingdom not conquered.

Obviously, this became a problem and almost an obsession for the three brothers, and conflicts were expected, with Rhaenys paying the worst price. The Targaryens have indeed returned, with Rhaenys and her dragon Meraxes leading battles. However, the Dornish, known for their fierce independence and cunning in war, resisted. They employed guerrilla tactics, refusing to fight direct battle and hiding in the strongholds of the mountainous terrain.

On one of the flights with Meraxes, the dragon was hit in the eye by a scorpion arrow, and in the fall, both Rhaenys and Meraxes died. And here one of the greatest mysteries of the entire saga was created.

Rhaenys’ body was never returned to the Targaryens, adding a layer of mystery and tragedy to her death. Aegon was deeply affected and sought revenge, having to give up as not even fury could subdue Dorne. Rumor has it that Rhaenys is not dead immediately, but was cruelly tortured for years until she could no longer resist.

The details of the tortures are frightening and the legend only gets bigger because when years later Dorne allied itself with Aegon, effectively being the seventh kingdom under Targaryen’s command but the only one that was not conquered or surrendered, it was whispered in Aegon’s ear what happened with your favorite wife. The king was extremely shaken and never told anyone what was revealed, accepting Dorne’s terms and ending the conflict.

Rhaenys’ death marked a significant point in the Targaryen conquest, as it finalized the unification of Westeros under Targaryen rule and highlighted the vulnerability of dragons and their riders, despite their great power.

Rhaenys’ Curse

Interestingly, with so many name repetitions among the Targaryens and Rhaenys having been so inspiring, it is curious that there are only three across so many centuries. There is Rhaenys II, who married Corlys Velaryon (Steve Touissant) and who supported Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) in the Dance of the Dragons, and there is little Rhaenys III, daughter of Rhaegar and Elia Martell, brutally murdered as a child under the orders by Tywin Lannister, at the end of Robert’s Rebellion, one of the great conflicts in Game of Thrones. Her death is often cited as one of the many tragic events that catalyzed the complex and bloody conflicts that ensue in the MAX series.

Each of the three Rhaenys influenced the events of their respective times, the first two most directly. The death of Rhaenys I showed the strength of Dorne, that of Rhaenys II, who played a direct role in a civil war, significantly influencing the political landscape. The impact of young Rhaenys III’s death was more symbolic, but it influenced alliances and generated more conflicts.

The two older Rhaenys represent the themes of power, legacy, and the consequences of war, important elements of the entire A Song of Ice and Fire saga, as well as Fire and Blood, while the little princess symbolizes lost innocence and the human cost of political conflicts.
Because of this sad coincidence, some suggest that the scarcity of Rhaenys in the Targaryen line would prove a curse on the name. It will be?

The second Rhaenys will be notable in season 2 of House of the Dragon

We know that Rhaenys Targaryen was the natural successor to the Iron Throne and that it was the misogyny led by her grandfather, Jaehaerys I, who found several subterfuges to not pass the Crown to her, that generated the “nickname” of The Queen Who Never Was.

Eve Best is creating a legendary Rhaenys, as strong and charismatic as the one described by George R. R. Martin, and as we know, she will have an epic and sad farewell. All the images from the season circulate in the battle of Rook’s Nest and we can expect one of the most iconic moments in the entire saga, marking the farewell of Rhaenys II.

Speculation about who will play Rhaenys I in the MAX series

Upon announcing that he is working on Aegon’s Conquest as one of the spin-offs that will follow House of the Dragon, social media began their favorite game of trying to anticipate who could play Rhaenys I, even though we are at least two to three years away from being able to start thinking about it.

My favorite is Freya Allan from The Witcher and Planet of the Apes, but the most popular among fans is Anya Taylor-Joy, closely followed by Florence Pugh and Emma Corrin.

Whoever it is, it will be a role to create a star. Worthy of the legend of Rhaenys Targaryen.

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