Who is Rhaenys Targaryen to Daenerys? Warning minor spoilers ahead. House of the Dragon season 1 is over, and the Dance of the Dragons is about to begin. This civil war will bring Westeros to its knees and ultimately lead to the ruin of House Targaryen.
Unsurprisingly fans are very curious how the major players in the Dance are related to the Game of Thrones characters we all know and love. We know that Rhaenyra is related to Jon Snow, but what about the fan favorite and the Lady of Driftmark, Raenys Targaryen? How does she fit into everything? Well, we’ve decoded the Targaryen family tree to explain what relation Rhaenys Targaryen is to Daenerys Targaryen.
How is Rhaenys Targaryen related to Daenerys?
Rhaenys is a distant relative of Daenerys Targaryen. Specifically, she’s her 7th cousin six times removed (we think… the Targaryen family tree’s pretty tricky to read).
The pair are related through Jaehaerys I, the greatest Targaryen king, aside from Aegon the Conqueror. Rhaenys was Jaehaerys’ granddaughter, while Daenerys is his great, great, great, great, great, great granddaughter.
Rhaenys isn’t a direct ancestor of Daenerys, like Rhaeynra Targaryen is, however. Rhaenys line of Targaryens ended when her children Laena and Laenor died (well, Laenor faked his death).
Rhaenys technically had grandchildren (they were Strong bastards, but they had her surname) who would have sat on the Iron Throne and perhaps saved us from the Mad King by creating a new line of kings, but they all died in the Dance of the Dragons.
If you want to know more about the coming war, check out our guide to House of the Dragon season 2, or if you’re looking for more spoilerific knowledge about the fantasy series, we have guides on some of the best House of the Dragon characters, including Otto Hightower, Daemon Targaryen, Alicent Hightower, The White Worm, Larys Strong, Aegon II Targaryen, King Viserys Targaryen, and Ser Criston Cole.