“House of the Dragon” is one of the most popular series today as every Sunday it makes viewers scream with excitement for the battles between the kings and their dragons. However, its predecessor, ‘Game of Thrones’, created a very similar phenomenon.
Both have several similarities, and perhaps the most notable is the presence of people who practice incest, that is, maintain a carnal relationship between relatives. Find out what the most popular shows are and why they’re in them.
Why did the Targaryens incest?
Keep the Valyrian blood pure
House Targaryen was the one in Westeros known for carrying out this practice and there are several reasons.
The Targaryens believed that by marrying brothers or cousins they would keep their lineage and Valyrian blood intact, which would allow them to continue to ride and control dragons, since without this it is impossible.
Tradition
In ancient Valyria, where the Targaryens came from, inbreeding between close relatives was a common and accepted practice, but when they immigrated to Westeros they were first considered “strange” people, then everyone normalized the behavior of the House.
Connecting with dragons
The pure blood of the Valyrians was believed to give a special connection to dragons. Therefore, the Targaryens married to retain this ability.
Incest was part of various cultures and monarch families
Although in real life people condemn incest, it turns out that in the past there were some very famous ones involving European monarchs, so “House of the Dragon” and “Game of Thrones” aren’t too far from reality.
Some who practiced it were the Egyptian culture, Queen Victoria and the Habsburg dynasty, who suffered from children with extremely easy deformities. In fact, all of them did it to maintain power among a few relatives, such as the Targaryens and of course, with the idea of keeping the “pure and royal blood”.
Mixed Blood Couples from ‘House of the Dragon’
Daemon and Rhaenyra Targaryen
Rhaenyra is Daemon’s niece, and from her teenage years she seemed to retain some attraction to him, which was surprisingly mutual. Once he came of age, they eventually married and their children became second nephews and brothers.
Daemon and Laena Valerion
Daemon set his sights on Laena after the death of his second wife, and shortly thereafter they married regardless of whether they were close family, as the young woman’s mother was Rhaenys, Viserys I Targaryen’s cousin. Twins, Baela and Rhaena, were the product of their marriage.
Laenor Velaryon and Rhaenyra
Rhaenyra was against the marriage because she was in love with Daemon, but gave in to her father’s pressure to see her married. Thus it is settled that Laenor Velaryon, the son of the “sea serpent”, is her betrothed.
The princess was never able to have children with Laenor as she was gay and this led to her having sex with the knight Harwin Strong, which Alicent Hightower did not like as she knew they were bastard children.
Viserys I Targaryen and Aemma Arryn
You might not know it, but this couple was also in-blood, since the former kings of the Seven Kingdoms were cousins. Although this is not openly discussed in “House of the Dragon”, it is in the books.
Daemon’s daughters and Rhaenyra’s sons were betrothed
It’s important to remember that in the first season of “House of the Dragon,” Jacaerys Velaryon’s engagement to Baela Targaryen and Lucerys Velaryon’s engagement to Rhaena Targaryen, who are curiously cousins, become official.
At this time one of these future unions was dissolved, because Lucerys was killed by Vhagar, the dragon of her uncle Aemond Targaryen.
Mixed blood couples from “Game of Thrones”
Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow
One of the most unexpected twists in “Game of Thrones” was that Jon wasn’t a bastard like everyone thought, as Bran discovers that he’s actually the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen. To add more drama to the matter, the keeper of Winterfell falls in love with Daenerys, who is actually his aunt, though he doesn’t know it until later.
Jaime Lannister and Cersei
From the first chapter of ‘Game of Thrones’ it is discovered that the Lannister twins had a carnal relationship for years and from which they had three children together. Even though their secret is discovered, they do everything possible to deny it, and their bond is so strong that they die in each other’s arms.
Lancel Lannister and Cersei
Remember at some point in the series Jaime is kidnapped by the Starks and kept away from King’s Landing? Well, even though he missed his sister, he decided to replace him for a while with Lancel, who is actually Cersei’s cousin.
Craster and his daughters
Beyond the wall lives a man named Craster who harbors the men of the Night’s Watch and a disturbing fact is that he has had sexual relations with his daughters, one of whom turns out to be Gilly, who later escapes with Sam .
Do you remember other relationships of this type from the series? Tell us in the comments.
Source: univision
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
