Just When You Thought The Targaryen Family Tree Couldn’t Be More Circular, You Get Visions Thrown in
That was certainly a choice.
The fifth episode of the second season of House of the Dragon, “Regent,” brought new, fresh madness to Daemon’s ongoing arc of “being tormented by visions while holding court in that cursed place that is Harrenhal.”
Spoilers ahead for season 2 episode 5 of House of the Dragon, “Regent,” as well as some lore from Fire & Blood
While it’s still unclear whether Daemon’s visions are caused by his own guilt, by Alys Rivers playing it up, by Harrenhal’s curse or even just the Riverlands being a generally creepy place—most likely they are a combo of all of those—I have to admit they are one of my favorite parts of this season so far. But like everything else, anything related to the Targaryens has to dial things up to one thousand from what would be considered normal or even just “that’s kind of weird but we’ll let it slide, I guess”.
After seeing visions of a young Rhaenyra and of Laena Velaryon—played respectively by Milly Alcock and Nanna Blondell—this week we saw Daemon’s visions conjuring up a mysterious Targaryen woman, with whom he engages in a sexual encounter. And it’s only at the end of that encounter that he realizes she’s his mother, Alyssa Targaryen.
Now, while I maintain that if there’s anyone from his family—besides Rhaenyra—that Daemon should have weird psychosexual dreams about then that person could only possibly be Viserys, it was nice to see Alyssa pop up even if it was just in a kind of disturbing vision. She is one of the most interesting women in Targaryen history, after all.
So who is Alyssa Targaryen in House of the Dragon?
Alyssa Targaryen, portrayed by Emeline Lambert in House of the Dragon, was one of the many children of King Jaehaerys I and Queen Alyssane—she was their fifthborn, to be precise, and the first daughter to reach adulthood after baby Daenerys died at only seven years old of the great Shivers epidemic that swept through the realm in 60 AC. Alyssa was named after her grandmother Alyssa Velaryon, who was the mother of both Jaehaerys and Alysanne.
Described as bawdy, headstrong, and quick-spirited, Alyssa was also known for her unusual appearance—she had one green eye and one violet one and blonde hair, without a trace of Targaryen silver. She was also particularly close to her two eldest brothers, Aemon and Baelon, so much so that she ended up marrying Baelon in 75 AC. In that same year, she also claimed her dragon, Meleys the Red Queen, of whom she became the first rider.
Alyssa had two children with Baelon—Viserys and Daemon, both of whom she took up in the sky on Meleys a handful of days after their respective births. Her third pregnancy, though, was particularly difficult and in the end, she died within a year of giving birth to another son, Aegon—the same fate that is shared day at least half of the women ever mentioned in A Song of Ice and Fire. Little Aegon died a few months after Alyssa, at not even a year old.
And considering that Daemon was only three years old when his mother died, it would make sense that he doesn’t recognize her in his vision until she calls him “her son”.
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