Will Baela and Jace make it as a couple? House of the Dragon stars weigh in

Like Game of Thrones before it, the second season of House of the Dragon has expanded the world of the show. We meet a bunch of new characters, and some supporting players from the first season are stepping into bigger roles. Take Baela Targaryen, the daughter of Daemon Targaryen and the step-daughter of Queen Rhaenyra. She didn't have much to do in season 1, but now she's a scout for her queen, riding her dragon Moondancer and reporting back on the movements of the Green army.

Bethany Antonia, who plays Baela, isn't one of those cast members who hasn't read the source material for fear of it unduly impacting their performance. Not only has Antonia read author George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood, the book on which House of the Dragon is based, but she's also read all of A Song of Ice and Fire, the enormous series that HBO adapted as Game of Thrones. “I read all of Martin’s work, front to back, inside out,” she told Polyester. “I tried to find as much as I could from Martin’s point of view, how he thought about the world and how he would have wanted to portray it.” 

Antonia's enthusiasm for the role is infectious. She even spent a ton of time training how to use a crossbow, which we see her doing briefly in an early scene with her fiancé Jacaerys Velaryon (Harry Collett). “Team Black until the day I die,” Antonia offers, referencing the name of the faction that supports Queen Rhaenyra's claim to the Iron Throne, as opposed to King Aegon's. Baela, too, is a fierce young woman with strong convictions, so it looks like HBO found the right actor to play her. “I would say that her stubbornness is quite close to my own,” Antonia laughed. “I think I’m more like that than I would admit.”

House of the Dragon star Bethany Antonia explains Baela Targaryen

Speaking to TV Line, Antonia pointed out that Baela and Jace, in addition to being engaged, seem to "really cherish" just spending time together, not always a guarantee when your marriage is arranged.

That said, there are obstacles in their way. For one thing, they're cousins, although being blood-related has never stopped people in the Targaryen family from coupling up. Jace's mother Rhaenyra is currently married to Baela's father Daemon, even though Daemon is Rhaenyra's uncle. They're fine on that score.

Although speaking of Rhaneyra and Daemon, the two are currently fighting. Can Baela and Jace survive that split? “That’s a very good question,” Harry Collett said. “I don’t think we know the full length of what’s going on between them, because Daemon is definitely not going to talk about it to Baela, and Rhaenyra definitely isn’t going to speak about it to Jace.”

We should also remember that these two are helping out with Rhaenyra's war, which means they could be chomped to bit by a dragon or assassinated in the night. Danger is never far on this show. We'll see how they fare when House of the Dragon returns with another new episdoe this upcoming Sunday night on HBO and Max.

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