House of the Dragon is thankfully just as wonderfully intense as Game of Thrones, and Rhaenyra Targaryen is at the center of the story. We want to know her age when the HBO spinoff began.
There’s a lot to keep track of in the dramatic series, from the meaning of Blood and Cheese to the many complex relationships between the characters. Now that we’re (happily) watching season 2, we’re getting answers to big questions. One of the biggest things we want to know is, how old is Rhaenyra in the pilot episode of House of the Dragon?
What is Rhaenyra’s age in House of the Dragon?
Rhaenyra’s age changes quite a few times throughout House of the Dragon, so let’s take a few deep breaths and dive in. In season 1, episode 1, “The Heirs of the Dragon,” Rhaenyra is 15. We know this because her dad Viserys says her age in the second episode. In season 2, Rhaenyra is 32 years old.
As we watch more episodes of House of the Dragon season 2, it seems the characters will remain the same age. Showrunner Ryan Condal said in an interview with Deadline that season 2 will be free from time jumps (phew). Condal explained, “as a reward to our wonderful audience for following us through all the time jumps and recasts, they are done. We tell the story in real time from here forward.”
The characters’ ages shift in House of the Dragon since there are a few time jumps. Season 1, episode 2, “The Rogue Prince” takes place six months after the pilot, and season 1, episode 6, “The Princess Queen,” happens a full decade later. Then, in season 1, episode 8, “The Lord of the Tides,” six years have passed (we need to take another deep breath). While the time jumps are definitely logical since so much ground has to be covered storywise, it’s totally fine to admit that it’s hard to tell what age anyone is in any given episode just by looking at them.
At least two actors play Rhaenyra Targaryen on House of the Dragon: Milly Alcock portrays the younger character, and Emma D’Arcy plays the older one. If the same actress played the character in every single scene, we might have some opinions about that. Alcock is 24 and D’Arcy is 31, and besides their amazing talent, we can say they were well cast, because they do look fairly close to their character’s age.
As it turns out, we might have seen an increase in time jumps, which would have made the characters’ ages even more confusing. According to Variety, George R.R. Martin explained, “You would have had 40 more years and you would have had even more time jumps and you would have even more re-castings and, yeah, I was the only one who was really enthused about that.”