Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys Targaryen shares a lot of characteristics from her great ancestors, Rhaenyra and Daemon.
Fans were caught off-guard after seeing what seemed like Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys Targaryen in the finale episode of House of the Dragon Season 2. While it has been confirmed that another actress portrayed the part, the decision to insert a little Game of Thrones Easter egg in that scene was quite an impressive move.
Of course, Daenerys is the descendant of Rhaenyra and Daemon Targaryen. The events in the show took place 172 years before the birth of the future Mother of Dragons. Along with the Iron Throne, her own birthright, she also inherited many traits from her grand ancestors.
Some of the Traits Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys Targaryen Inherited From Daemon and Rhaenyra
House of the Dragon has always been about power and politics. Many unions have been arranged for the benefit of the kingdom, but there are a few who married for love.
Emma D’Arcy’s Rhaenyra and Matt Smith’s Daemon are not perfect – they did a lot of bad things, but they also did good ones. What is more important is that they are perfect for each other, and their love produced little princes and princesses that would soon rule Westeros.
Fans are already aware of the inbreeding process the Targaryen dynasty is infamously known for and the Valyrian blood that runs through their veins. With this came many heroic and dangerous traits that have been passed down their lineage.
In Game of Thrones, Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys ended up acting like her father, Aerys II or the Mad King, though many of her strong characteristics are distinctively similar to Rhaenyra and Daemon.
Her great ancestors displayed extreme obsession towards each other despite being uncle and niece. Daenerys’ love affairs weren’t too different. She eventually loved Jason Momoa’s Khal Drogo in spite of how ill he treated her in the beginning. Then, she loved Kit Harington’s Jon Snow, which basically mirrored her ancestor’s relationship, as they were later on revealed to be aunt and nephew.
Of course, there is an unspoken rule that only a person of Valyrian blood can ride dragons. The regal beasts were known to be extinct at the time of Game of Thrones, and Daenerys did not have anyone to teach her how to ride dragons. Both Daemon and Rhaenyra are exceptional at dealing with these feral creatures. It is easy to see that she inherited their traits when she immediately got the hang of flying on dragon’s back just on her own.
There is also a form of darkness within our favorite couple’s hearts, and it reeks like crazy when it’s filled with anger and a thirst for vengeance. In George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, Daemon was not too worried about murdering a child (obviously, they changed the situation in the show), and Rhaenyra was no different from the other tyrant kings. Her time on the Iron Throne was remembered for countless mass murders and high taxes on the smallfolk, which earned her the title “a queen as cruel as any king before her.”
Perhaps it is already evident which action proved Daenerys isn’t any different from her ancestors. She burned innocent people in King’s Landing to inform Lena Headey’s Queen Cersei that no defense, not even human shield, could protect her.
Daenerys Cameo Scene In House of the Dragon
Emilia Clarke’s memories of her time portraying Daenerys in Game of Thrones are still vivid that she refuses to watch the show or even the prequel series, so it is not a surprise that she didn’t return for that epic cameo scene with her three young dragons.
Nevertheless, many speculated that Daemon’s vision of Daenerys alludes to the prophetic dream of Aegon the Conqueror, who embarked on his quest to unite the Seven Kingdoms because he believed that The Prince That Was Promised would be born from his own bloodline.
