‘House of the Dragon’ Finally Introduces Us to Another One of the Ruling Ladies of Westeros
And what a lady she is.
With the Dance of the Dragons slowly but surely spreading to wider Westeros, we’re also finally getting introduced to more lords and ladies ruling the noble houses of the realm—something that’s probably my favorite part of the show, besides the usual amounts of Targaryen unhingedness. I just love this warmongering little continent.
Spoilers ahead for season 2, episode 5 of House of the Dragon, “Regent,” as well as the lore from Fire & Blood
In the fifth episode of season two of House of the Dragon, we follow Phoebe Campbell’s Rhaena Targaryen all the way to the Vale of Arryn, where she and her younger step-slash-half-brothers—Princes Joffrey Velaryon, Aegon Targaryen and Viserys Targaryen—are guests at one of the most impregnable castles in the Seven Kingdoms, the Eyrie. And the Eyrie is currently the seat of one of the few women ruling their house in her own right—Lady Jeyne Arryn, portrayed by Amanda Collin.
So who is Lady Jeyne Arryn in House of the Dragon?
Jeyne Arryn is the ruling Lady of the Vale and became so when she was only three after her father and brothers were all murdered by the clans of the mountain men. Fire & Blood never specifies what her relationship to the previous ruler of the Vale, Lord Rodrik Arryn, is, but follow me through this family tree because it includes some characters that we know very well.
It’s speculated that Jeyne’s unnamed father could be Lord Rodrik’s son from his first marriage. His second marriage to Princess Daella Targaryen—one of the many children of King Jaehaerys and Queen Alysanne—resulted in a daughter, Lady Aemma Arryn. And of course, Lady Aemma would go on to marry her own cousin Viserys and give birth to Princess—now Queen—Rhaenyra Targaryen.
If this were the case, then Jeyne and Rhaenyra would be first cousins—but even if the family tree looked different, the two would remain pretty close relatives, which is why Rhaenyra chooses the Eyrie to foster all her younger children. That and the fact that it’s a pretty impossible castle to storm by land and would really only fall when attacked from the sky by dragons.
Lady Jeyne’s role in the war is still to be discovered, since things in House of the Dragon don’t go down as the in-universe chronicle of Fire & Blood reports them—even though we can be certain she and her troops will fight for Rhaenyra, despite her sending Jeyne dragons much smaller than the ones she requested in one smooth loophole-finding move that would probably make Rhaenyra one of the most sought after lawyers in Westeros were she not already busy with fighting for the Iron Throne.
What’s most interesting about Jeyne, though—and maybe something we’ll get to see at least mentioned since it’s generally sorely lacking in everything ASOIAF-related—is her alleged queerness. Although never stated explicitly, it’s pretty heavily implied that the reason she never married and was dubbed “the Maiden of the Vale” is because she preferred women to men, so much so that when she died she did so in the arms of her “dear companion” Lady Jessamyn Redford.
Hopefully, we catch a glimpse of all this in future episodes, or however long Rhaena stays in the Vale.
Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com
