First look at Eve Best as Rhaenys Targaryen in House of the Dragon
By Dan Selcke
After months of indoor shooting, HBO is taking in the fresh air again and filming on location for its upcoming Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon. Yesterday we saw Matt Smith (Daemon Targaryen) on a beach in Cornwall, England yesterday, and now we’re getting our first look at cast member Eve Best as Rhaenys Targaryen, the Queen who Never Was.
Some background: House of the Dragon is set some 180 years before the events of Game of Thrones and tells the story of the Dance of the Dragons, a brutal civil war that tears the realm apart. On one side you have Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), the only child of the late King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine). On the other is her younger half-brother Aegon Targaryen, who’s claim is supported by his mother Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke). Both Rhaenyra and Aegon think they have a right to the Iron Throne, and neither is willing to budge. Things are going to get messy.
As the older child of the late king and the one he’d been grooming to take over, Rhaenyra seems like the natural choice to succeed as Queen. But even though Aegon is younger, he’s male, which in the eyes of some makes him the only legitimate choice. The precedent that men’s claims are prioritized over women’s was set up in part because of Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best), who in her younger days was considered high up in the line of succession, since she was the daughter of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen’s eldest son Aemon. But when Aemon died young and King Jaehaerys had to name a new heir, he chose Rhaenys’ uncle Baelon over her.
Naturally, Rhaenys was pissed, as was her influential husband Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint). They went on to have two children: a daughter Laena and a son Laenor. Later, when Baelon also died, Rhaenys pushed her claim as heir again, but was again rejected on account of her sex; the heirship instead passed to Baelon’s son Viserys, who is king when the story begins. Rhaenys was known afterwards as the Queen Who Never Was, even though by all accounts she would have made a great ruler.
During the Dance of the Dragons, Rhaenys joins with Rhaenyra Targaryen and her Blacks, in part because Rhaenyra is married to Rhaenys’ son Laenor and in part because of course she’s going to join the side of the war pushing against the notion that women can’t rule.
And now we have our first look at her. We won’t post the picture — do you want us to get sued? — but you can see it here.
Meet Rhaenys Targaryen and the Strong boys
In George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, Rhaenys is described as having dark hair — her mother was a Baratheon — so it’s interesting that she has the distinct Targaryen white-blonde look in this picture. It does still basically fit, though, since by the time of the Dance Rhaenys is in her 50s and Martin tells us that her hair had gone silver-white.
As for the two guys she’s with, fans think they’re two of Rhaenyra’s three sons: Jacaerys, Lucerys and Joffrey. Remember: Rhaenyra is married to Rhaenys’ son Laenor, so the boys are her grandkids.
…kind of. Note that they the boys have dark brown hair rather than the normal Targaryen white-blonde. This is important, because it’s a tip-off that their father is not Laenor but rather, as it widely suspected, Harwin Strong — in Fire & Blood it’s heavily implied that Laenor is gay and that Rhaenyra takes Harwin as a lover, which creates issues of its own.
Confused by all this talk of family relationships? There are also some leaked pictures of soldiers wearing Targaryen armor that’s easier to get your head around.
House of the Dragon premieres on HBO and HBO Max sometime in 2022.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.
Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels