Is Rhaenyra related to Jon Snow? Warning very mild spoilers for Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. The fantasy series House of the Dragon has taken us back to a time when the Targaryen family sat on the Iron Throne, and dragons soared the skies.
As it’s a prequel, though, many people are interested in how the various denizens of yesterday’s Westeros are related to the Game of Thrones characters we loved for eight seasons (OK, seven seasons). The most obvious question is how are the current royal family — King Viserys Targaryen, Daemon, Rhaneyra Targaryen, etc. — related to the Targaryens of the future. So here’s how Rhaenyra is related to Jon Snow.
Is Rhaenyra related to Jon Snow?
Yes, Jon Snow and Rhaenyra are very distantly related. She’s technically his great, great, great, great, great, great grandmother, or at least she is in the TV series. It’s important to remember that in the books, Jon’s parentage hasn’t officially been revealed as of yet (So his relationship with Daenerys Targaryen may not be canon in the books at least).
How are Rhaenyra and Jon Snow related?
Jon is related to Rhaenyra through his father, Rhaegar Targaryen, who was the son of Aerys II Targaryen. Aerys father was Jaehaerys II, the son of Aegon V, who was, in turn, the son of Maekar I Targaryen. Maekar was the son of Daeron II, who Aegon IV sired. Aegon IV was the son of Viserys II, who was the second-born child of Rhaenyra and Daemon Targaryen.
Phew. That’s a lot of sons to dig through and about 200 years of Targaryen interbreeding. Try not to think about it… or Larys Strong’s thing for Alicent Hightower’s feet… or whatever the hell Aegon II Targaryen is into… in fact, don’t think about any of the House of the Dragon character’s kinks.
If you want to know more about the Targaryens, check out our guide to the House of the Dragon season 2 release date or our detailed feature breaking down everything you could want to know about the Game of Thrones dragons.
If you’re curious about the future of the Seven Kingdoms, then check out our guide looking at the possibility of a Game of Thrones season 9 and the return of the Game of Thrones cast.