The lore in House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones can seem daunting with all the royal families, dragons, and dramas that erupt into conflict. When viewers first saw Rhaenyra in House of the Dragon, played in her older age by Emma D’Arcy and in her younger age by Milly Alcock, there were immediate comparisons to Daenerys, played by Emilia Clarke, from GOT. As it turns out, this wasn’t by mistake, it was by design.
House of the Dragon will take place nearly 200 years before GOT during the peak of the Targaryen’s reign. Showrunner Ryan Condal has compared it to the fall of the Roman Empire for its decadence and ultimate fate. Rhaenyra is the daughter of King Viserys (Paddy Considine), and she will be fighting for the Iron Throne after his death. The widowed Alicent Hightower, played in her younger years by Emily Carey and in her older age by Olivia Cooke, has other plans and will present a viable threat to the throne.
In GOT, Daenerys’ story isn’t so dissimilar from Rhaenyra’s. Dany’s father King Aerys was killed by Jamie Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), ending the Targaryen’s hold on King’s Landing. Dany and her brother Viserys V (Harry Lloyd) escaped Westeros for Essos, and after Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa) killed him, Dany’s ascension to the throne begins. Like Alicent, Cersei Lannister (Lena Headley) is adamant about keeping her family’s claim to the throne, sparking a war between the two houses.
Rhaenyra and Daenerys are separated by nine generations, making Rhaenyra her six times great grandmother. Their bloodline originated in Valyria in Essos, a powerful civilization that lasted 5,000 years. The dragonlords of Old Valyria had magic and a deep connection to their dragons, providing them with the ability to control and ride them. They were used in the Valyrians Wars and Aegon’s conquest of Westeros, and their continued use throughout the ages cemented Targaryen rule in Westeros. Ultimately, the War of the Five Kings marks the end of the Targaryen dynasty.
The two Targaryen women are alike in many ways, but their differences are just as significant. From the trailer, King Viserys expects his daughter to be queen, while Dany spent her early life on the run for fear of assassination. House of the Dragon takes place in an age when many dragonriders took to the sky, and Rhaenyra will have her own dragon, whereas Daenerys was older when she acquiesced her dragon eggs, causing her to learn how to control her dragons along the way.