House of the Dragon: What Happened to Daemon Targaryen’s Mother?

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 5.

House of the Dragon Season 2’s latest installment reveals a new detail about Prince Daemon Targaryen: he never knew his mother. So, who was Daemon Targaryen’s mom, and what happened to her?

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Why Daemon Targaryen Didn’t Know His Mother

Midway through House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 5, we’re dropped into a sex scene between Daemon and a mystery woman. It soon transpires that Daemon’s partner is his late mother, Princess Alyssa Targaryen, and this is another of Daemon’s Harrenhal daydreams. But real or not, this taboo tryst tells us a lot about Daemon.

Admittedly, we already knew Daemon had issues with women. Season 2’s last few episodes highlight his various insecurities regarding his wife, Queen Rhaenyra, and Season 1 briefly hinted at his mommy issues. However, Season 2, Episode 5 is the most explicit depiction of Daemon’s hang-ups, in more ways than one. Throughout Daemon’s raunchy reverie, Alyssa constantly strokes his ego, calling him (not his brother, Viserys) her favorite son. What’s more, he’s clearly troubled later on when Alys Rivers mentions he never knew his mother.

But why is that? Episode 5 doesn’t offer any answers, nor does the House of the Dragon‘s wider run to date. The series’ predecessor, Game of Thrones, doesn’t cover Alyssa’s backstory, either. Fortunately, we have House of the Dragon‘s source text, Fire & Blood, to fill in the gaps. According to that tome, Alyssa died when Daemon was only three. The implication is therefore that, while she and Daemon spent plenty of time together, the rogue prince barely remembers any of it.

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What Else Do We Know About Daemon’s Mother?

Fire & Blood paints a fairly complete portrait of Daemon’s mother. Alyssa was a tomboy growing up and remained feisty as an adult (which likely explains why she was the equally spirited Meleys’ first dragon rider). In keeping with Targaryen tradition, she married her brother, Baelon, and the pair had one of Westeros’ few happy, seemingly monogamous marriages. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long. Alyssa died shortly after giving birth to her third child, Aegon (who also didn’t survive).

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What about Daemon’s sex dream – is that in the book? Nope, mostly because Fire & Blood is a faux-historical text, not a novel. As such, it doesn’t really delve into the interiority of its characters. Only events that in-universe historians (or one of their sources) saw or heard make the cut. So, if the Fire & Blood incarnation of Daemon did fantasize about Alyssa, he kept it to himself!

House of the Dragon Season 2 is currently airing on HBO and Max, with new episodes dropping Sundays.