Why Daenerys Targaryen Couldn’t Have Children In Game Of Thrones (& What The Show Left Out From The Books)

Daenerys Targaryen was the Mother of Dragons in Game of Thrones, but believed herself to be infertile for the majority of the show. Her story was one that was defined by birth and death: that holds true from season 1, and the stillbirth of her son, Rhaego, followed by hatching the dragon eggs on Khal Drogo’s funeral pyre. It’s still true by Game of Thrones‘ ending, where she has to lose some of those closest to her – Jorah Mormont, Missandei, Rhaegal – before she herself is killed.

But the idea of Daenerys not being able to have children, specifically, was one that ran throughout her arc, including her desire to break the wheel, and she brought it up at different points – most notably with Jon Snow in season 7. However, Game of Thrones left out details about Daenerys from the books, and that includes a deeper explanation and understanding of why she thinks she cannot have children. And while Jon Snow killing Dany also meant there was no chance for it to happen in the show, it’s not entirely off the table in A Song of Ice and Fire.

Daenerys Believes She Can’t Have Children Due To A Prophecy (Or Curse)

Game Of Thrones Didn’t Include The Full Line That Explains It

Daenerys’ infertility goes back to Game of Thrones season 1, when Mirri Maz Duur uses bloodmagic in order to save Khal Drogo. She tells Dany that “only death can pay for life,” and in this case the price is an extremely high one: Dany and Drogo’s son, Rhaego, and that horrific experience, combined with a prophecy or curse, may have left her unable to bear children.

“He was scaled like a lizard, blind, with leather wings like the wings of a bat. When I touched him the skin fell from his bones. Inside he was full of graveworms. I warned you that only death can pay for life. You knew the price.” – Mirri Maz Duur, Game of Thrones season 1, episode 10, “Fire and Blood.”

Of course, that price ended up being one Daenerys regretted paying: Khal Drogo did not truly come back to life, and Dany herself was forced to smother him to end his suffering. But it was that decision that led to Daenerys being unable to have children – or at least believing as such, as there’s little in the way of truly explicit, 100% confirmation she can’t. The show never fully explains it. In the books, when Dany asks when Drogo will be as he was, we get this response from Duur:

“When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east. When the seas go dry and mountains blow in the wind like leaves. When your womb quickens again and you bear a living child. Then he will return, and not before.”

That third line is what leads Daenerys to realize, or believe, she’s infertile, but it was omitted from the show, which only had the first two parts of the prophecy. While it may seem like a minor change, it did have big ramifications on the understanding of Daenerys’ arc, as it meant the biggest explanation for her infertility was missing entirely. And though it’s probably safe to assume Dany really couldn’t have kids in the show, since she wasn’t exactly chugging moon tea, there could be more to it on the page.

Could Daenerys Have A Child In A Song Of Ice & Fire?

It May Not Be Impossible In GRRM’s Books

There were theories for years that Daenerys would have a child in Game of Thrones. Indeed, after season 7’s ending, wherein she had sex with Jon Snow, the idea that she was going to become pregnant, and they’d have a child together in season 8, was frequently discussed and certainly seemed plausible. Obviously, that didn’t happen, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible in the books.

George R.R. Martin is typically quite careful with his use of prophecies; they are rarely as literal or obvious as they seem. So could the same not hold true for Daenerys? Mirri Maz Duur had reason to deceive Dany, after all, but even if she was telling the truth, it does not mean that’s how it is always going to be. Magic and prophecy are both ambiguous by their very nature in A Song of Ice and Fire, and there aren’t many fixed rules or absolutes when it comes to them.

There are, for example, possibilities that could have fulfilled parts of the prophecy. Quentyn Martell, who was cut from the show, is sent from Dorne to try and marry Daenerys. The sigil of House Martell is a sun, so he is the “sun” who rose in the West (born in Westeros), and set in the East (died in Essos). Likewise, the sea going dry could refer to the Dothraki sea, to which Dany returns.

In A Dance with Dragons, Daenerys notably menstruates. While that in itself isn’t necessarily confirmation of anything – infertility does not necessarily preclude menstruation – that it’s called to attention a couple of times, and she specifically thinks about how long it’s been since it last happened, could mean it’s a hint of something bigger to come.

Similarly, Daenerys’ visions in the House of the Undying include her seeing a blue winter rose, growing out of a chink in the Wall. This is typically seen to represent Jon Snow and, perhaps, their romantic bond. But the flower, which was first given to Lyanna Stark by Rhaegar Targaryen at a tourney, can be taken as a symbol of fertility: it’s a sign of Lyanna and Rhaegar having Jon and is deeply connected to their story and his birth. So, could Martin be foreshadowing Jon and Dany having a baby?

Perhaps that would be a unique event – the Mother of Dragons, and a man who comes back from the dead – that allows it to happen. I’m not saying it’s definitely going to be the case, or even that it should, but it does seem unlike Martin for a prophecy to be so resolute and clear-cut. Whether Daenerys has a child or not, it will likely be explored in far more detail in the books than Game of Thrones.