How does Rhaenys Targaryen have Baratheon blood in House of the Dragon?

Rhaenyra tells Luc that Rhaenys has Baratheon blood in the House of the Dragon Season 1 finale. Here’s where that bloodline comes from.

We hear all the time that Targaryens marry their own, but that’s not always the case. There aren’t always enough Targaryens to go around, which means parents had to arrange their children’s marriages. That was the case for Rhaenys Targareyn’s parents.

It doesn’t take long to figure out where her Baratheon blood comes from. It’s more direct than House of the Dragon made it sound

How Rhaenys Targaryen is a Baratheon in House of the Dragon

Her father, Prince Aemon Targaryen, was married to someone from outside of the family. Well, sort of. He was married to his aunt, but she didn’t have the name Targaryen, and you wouldn’t guess she was a Targaryen based on appearance.

Lady Jocelyn Baratheon was the daughter of Rogar Baratheon and Alyssa Velaryon. Alyssa was the mother of Rhaenys’s grandparents—siblings who did marry—and was originally married to King Aenys I. When Aenys died, Alyssa married Rogar and had two children, including Jocelyn.

Rhaenys’s grandfather was the Lord of Storm’s End. Then her uncle was. That should have been enough to get the latest lord on Rhaenyra’s side, but it’s clear this guy doesn’t really care about family ties.

In the book, Fire & Blood, Rhaenys is described differently to the way she appears in the series. She is said to have dark hair like her mother, who got her hair from the Baratheon side of the family. However, Rhaenys had the pale violet eyes of the Targaryens, so it was clear she was also a Targaryen.

It would have been interesting had the series kept Rhaenys as a darker-haired woman as that would have given Viserys an even bigger reason to argue against Alicent about Rhaenyra’s children.

What did you think of House of the Dragon‘s Season 1 finale? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

House of the Dragon is available to stream on HBO and HBO Max.