Rhaenyra Targaryen has begun her claim to the Iron Throne in House of the Dragon. The prequel series to Game of Thrones is preparing for a Targaryen war, with no clear victor in sight. As the war brews, it's time to look back at Rhaenyra's claim, and the mistakes she made along her path to becoming Queen of the Seven Kingdoms in House of the Dragon.
Throughout the Game of Thrones prequel, Rhaenyra Targaryen has done some questionable things and has even been wrong on occasion. Her choices have certainly affected relationships with others, and even started a direct path to war.
6 Unmade Ser Criston
After a night on the town with Daemon, Rhaenyra felt slightly betrayed by her uncle, and absorbed by the excitement, tried to seduce Criston Cole. Criston was a Kingsguard Knight, who was given the duty of protecting Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. As a Kingsguard member, he had an oath of celibacy, which he breaks for Rhaenyra.
The ongoing romance between the two ends in Criston's obsession and misery, as Rhaenyra ends their scandal when she must be wed. Criston does not take this well in the slightest, showing that Rhaenyra's usage of Criston was not a mutual thing, but more for her pleasures, a mistake that she has made in entrusting him to be knight and Princess with benefits.
5 Lying To Alicent
Rhaenyra's maidenhood comes into question, and Alicent, being the best and closest friend of Rhaenyra, confronts her about it. Rhaenyra tries to calm her closest friend and promises her dead mother's life that nothing scandalous had happened. Therefore, Alicent has no choice but to believe her, based on her manipulative lie about the situation.
Through lying to Alicent, the two's friendship breaks. Years of love had ended with one lie, and breakage of honor amongst women with cursed duties. Rhaenyra's mistake was not entrusting her friend, and not owning up to what she did.
4 Affair With Harwin Strong
After her lustful time with Criston Cole ended, and her marriage to Laenor Velaryon began, the new couple, future Queen and King consort of Westeros agreed to sleep with whomever they want, for it best suited them to be happy. Rhaenyra chose to sleep with Harwin Strong, and the affair brought them 3 children. These children lived as Targaryens, with many bringing into question the true father of these three Strong boys.
Through this affair, Rhaenyra furthers the distance of former relationships. Many people in the court notice that the children are not Laenor's and the walls on Rhaenyra's lies close in. Her mistake was not drinking moon tea after their affair, a drink that acts as abortifacient prevention.
3 "Death" Of Leanor Velaryon
Through many frustrations, and constant torment over the legitimacy of her sons, Rhaenyra recognizes that she needs to be happy to be powerful. She tells her uncle, Daemon, that she needs him, and wishes for them to wed. To do so, her husband must die. Divorce isn't an option in Westeros, so the only way the two can marry is if Laenor is murdered.
Rhaenyra seems more than happy to go along with this plan to kill the future King’s consort and the son of the Valaryon dynasty. Rumors spurred that Rhaenyra was involved due to how fast she married Daemon, but in letting Laenor live and fake his death, perhaps he could come back in later seasons for a fierce reveal.
2 Not Meeting Her Suitors
When Rhaenyra was still a child, she had to meet with suitable husbands, as she was the only child of Viserys and Aemma. However, as Viserys remarried, and Alicent provided plenty of heirs, Rhaenyra needed a husband to keep her spot on the Iron Throne. However, hating their duty to the crown, and not putting her happiness first, she left the meeting of suitors in a haste.
Viserys was not happy with this, as it further showed Rhaenyra's rebellious side, and made Viserys' efforts in calling such a meeting in vain, especially since it would further divide the relations with other houses, and saw one male suitor killed in a dual.
1 Falling For Her Uncle
It's no secret that the Targaryens indulge in incest. The powerful House prefer to keep things in the family, to not share their features and Dragon riding blood with just anyone. However, the growing love between Rhaenyra and her uncle, Daemon, was not for the ability of their house, but for the lust she saw in his confidence and handsome features.
Rhaenyra was only a child, and Daemon wanted to seduce her for a chance at the Iron Throne. However, she should have let Viserys know of her uncle's intentions fast, and save the poor and ill King from further stress than he already had. Her lack of honesty also severed the ties between her and Alicent.