In Season 1 of House of the Dragon, we meet many new characters from within the Targaryen dynasty, as well as the rest of Westeros. The series differs greatly from Game of Thrones as it is set 200 years before the rise of Daenerys Targaryen. As the episodes unfold, we follow these characters as they eventually get caught up in the civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons.
Season 1 gave us a brief glimpse of young Princess Jaehaera Targaryen, who will be the future Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. However, the details of her life and her eventual fate are described in detail in George R.R. Martin’s book Fire and Blood, the Targaryen family history. Fans of the show may be surprised to learn the identity of the king Jaehaera will eventually marry. Additionally, the princess experiences events far beyond her reckoning during her life. Here is everything we know about the young Princess Jaehaera Targaryen.
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Who is Jaehaera Targaryen?
Jaehaera Targaryen is the daughter of King Aegon II Targaryen and his sister-wife Princess Helaena Targaryen. Jaehara was the younger twin to her brother Jaehaerys Targaryen. Born in 123 AC, she became third in line as an heir to the Iron Throne after the Greens crowned her father King of the Seven Kingdoms.
She was described as a girl who would not smile or cry like babies that age usually do, showing a lack of emotion. Jaehaera was known to be a sweet and simple girl. When she and her brother were born, dragon eggs were placed in their cradles per Valyrian customs. Both eggs hatched, and Jaehaera got her own dragon, Morghul.
Soon after, Queen Helaena gave birth to her younger brother, Maelor. During this visit to her grandfather, King Viserys, he shared a fictional tale with Jaehaera, recounting the adventures of their ancestor, King Jaehaerys I Targaryen, who shared the same name as Jaehaera’s brother. According to the story, King Jaehaerys I had flown on his dragon beyond the Wall to confront wildlings, giants, and wargs. Tragically, that same night, King Viserys passed away peacefully in his sleep.
Her life was not very eventful until the war started. She lived with her parents and grandparents, grandfather King Viserys I Targaryen, and grandmother Queen Alicent Hightower. She was looked after by numerous maids and spent her days as any royal toddler would. It would all change for the worse as the war began in earnest.
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Jaehaera Targaryen in House of the Dragon
In House of the Dragon Season 1, an infant Jaehaera is seen playing with her twin brother Jaehaerys as an attendant oversees them. In September 2023, the website Redanian Intelligence reported that child actress Olive Beever will play Princess Jaehaera Targaryen in Season 2 of House of the Dragon. Beever is significantly older than the actress who played Jaehaera in Season 1, which may indicate that some time has passed since her first appearance in the series.
Read More: HBO confirms new House of The Dragon cast and characters for Season 2
What happens to Jaehaera during the Dance of the Dragons?
Her uncle, Prince Aemond Targaryen of the Greens, killed Prince Lucerys Velaryon of the Blacks, son of Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen. This bloodshed is considered the beginning of the war since both sides had only been strategizing and sending word to potential allies up to this point. This murder marked a point of no return, and Prince Daemon Targaryen promised Rhaenyra that he would exact revenge for this death, “an eye for an eye, a son for a son.”
One night not long after this incident, Queen Helaena Targaryen visited her mother, Dowager Queen Alicent, with her children as was her nightly routine. Little did she know that Alicent was not alone in her bedchambers.
Two assassins had bound and gagged her and killed her bed-maid while waiting for Helaena and her children. As soon as Helaena entered the room, a man named Blood barred the door and killed her guard, and another man, Cheese, snatched baby Maelor away from her grasp.
When Helaena demanded who they were, Cheese stated that he and Blood were debt collectors and revealed that a debt had been owed; An eye for an eye, a son for a son. And so they asked her to choose which son she would prefer to be killed. Queen Helaena begged them to take her life instead, but the men did not budge and threatened her, saying they would rape six-year-old Jaehaera if she didn’t make her choice soon.
Through tears, she chose the younger son, Maelor, to be killed. Cheese whispered in the little boy’s ear, “You hear that, little boy? Your momma wants you dead.” In the next instant, Blood killed Prince Jaehaerys instead, beheading him with his sword. The duo took off into the night with Jaehaerys’s head, doing no further harm to anyone else.
Jaehaera Targaryen’s escape and life after the war
In 130 AC, Rhaenyra Targaryen began her descent on King’s Landing on Syrax. Then the master of whispers, Lord Larys Strong, helped Aegon II and his children, Jaehaera and Maelor, be snuck away to safety. Larys led them out of Maegor’s Holdfast through one of the many secret passages and tunnels running throughout the Red Keep, similar to the one we see in season 1. Kingsguard’s Ser Willis Fell was responsible for safely delivering Princess Jaehaera to Storm’s End. Another Kingsguard, Rickard Thorne, was sent off to Oldtown with Maelor.
Neither of the men was informed of the other’s destination, so they could not betray each other if they were caught. Jaehaera arrived at Storm’s End, but Maelor died when a mob attacked him and his guard. Rhaenyra posted huge rewards to anyone with information of the escapees and when that bore no results, she sent out hunting parties and punished anyone who had helped them escape.
By the end of the war, Jaehaera lost all of her immediate family after her mother Helaena committed suicide, and her father Aegon was poisoned. The Blacks had won and named Rhaenyra’s eldest surviving son, king Aegon III Targaryen. As a part of the peace agreement, Jaehaera, aged 8, married her cousin and King, Aegon, aged 11. And thus, Jaehaera became the Queen consort, but not for long.
Jaehaera Targaryen’s Death and Legacy
Two years after the marriage, Jaehaera was found impaled on the spikes of the dry moat under her bedroom window at Maegor’s Holdfast. It was reported that she threw herself from the window for reasons unknown. Her death was widely considered a suicide. But many people believe foul play was involved because she was only ten years old at the time.
It is suspected that Hand of the King Lord Unwin Peake ordered the murder of the young girl because he wanted his daughter to be married to the King. It is further supported by the fact that Peake’s half-brother was the one guarding Jaehaera’s door at the time of her death and allowed the sellsword, Tessario the Tiger, hired by Peake to commit the murder.
The poor child suffered in agony for half an hour before she passed away. Jaehaera’s death marked the end of King Viserys I Targaryen and Queen Alicent Hightower’s bloodline. Her dragon was killed in the riot during Queen Rhaenyra’s reign when the smallfolk stormed the dragonpit in an attempt to finish all the dragons.
Morgul died never having been ridden by Jaehaera. Neither she nor her siblings ever had the chance to grow up. Their lives were stolen by the elders fighting in a war, which led to the uncountable deaths of innocents, dragons, and humans.
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Frequently asked questions
- How is Jaehaerys I Targaryen related to Daenerys?
Jaehaerys Targaryen is a ninth great-grandfather to Daenerys Targaryen - What happened to Jaehaerys I Targaryen?
He died of old age as Alicent read to him on his deathbed. - Who killed Jaehaerys Targaryen, son of princess Helaena?
The assassins Blood and Cheese killed Jaehaerys. - Who is the dragon of the young Jaehaerys Targaryen?
The dragon Shrykos was bound to the young prince but never ridden. - How is Viserys related to the queen who never was?
Viserys and Rhaenys are cousins. Their fathers were brothers.
