Rhaenys Targaryen

Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, also known as Rhaenys Velaryon and the Queen Who Never Was, is a princess of the Targaryen dynasty, and the wife of Lord Corlys Velaryon. She is a dragonrider, her mount being Meleys, the Red Queen. 
==Biography==
===Background===
Rhaenys is the granddaughter of Jaehaerys I Targaryen, the daughter of Aemon Targaryen and Jocelyn Baratheon, and the first cousin of Viserys I Targaryen and Daemon Targaryen. She is named after her great-great-grandmother: Rhaenys Targaryen, the sister-wife of Aegon the Conqueror.
Rhaenys married Corlys Velaryon, admiral of the Targaryen fleets and currently the wealthiest living man in Westeros, having grown rich on trading expeditions he personally made to the Further East of Essos. Rhaenys and Corlys have two children: their son Laenor Velaryon and daughter Laena Velaryon.
Rhaenys's father Aemon died before her grandfather King Jaehaerys did, after which Jaehaerys made the decision to name his second son, Rhaenys's uncle Baelon Targaryen, as his heir. This proved controversial, since according to traditional inheritance law based on primogeniture, a lord's daughter stands ahead of his younger brother in the line of succession. As a result, Rhaenys is called "The Queen Who Never Was". Baelon himself died a few years later, also while Jaehaerys was still alive, leaving two rival male claimants to the Iron Throne: Rhaenys's own son Laenor (based on primogeniture), or Rhaenys's first cousin Viserys (the son of her uncle Baelon, and thus an unbroken male line). Fearing a civil war, Jaehaerys solved the issue by holding the Great Council of 101 AC in which all the lords of Westeros held a vote, and elected Viserys as heir to the throne. Jaehaerys died of old age a few years later and Viserys ascended to the throne.House of the Dragon | Official Website for the HBO Series | HBO.com
===House of the Dragon: Season 1===
Rhaenys attends the Heir's Tournament held to celebrate the impending birth of Viserys's son Baelon, along with her husband (wo is serving on the Small Council as Master of Ships) and her two young children, Laenor and Laena. As he enters the lists, Lord Boremund Baratheon asks Rhaenys for her favour to wear, publicly calling her the 'Queen Who Never Was' (a comment that infuriates Hand of the King Otto Hightower). When two knights fight each other to death, Rhaenys comments scathingly to Corlys that the knights participating are as "green as summer grass", none have seen real battle. When Viserys's wife Aemma Arryn dies from childbirth complications and Baelon does not long survive her, Rhaenys is among the family members and courtiers present at their joint funeral.
Rhaenys and her husband meet with King Viserys and propose a marriage alliance between the widower monarch and their daughter Laena, uniting the greatest surviving houses of Old Valyria. While Viserys is very hesitant at the idea of marrying a child, he understands the importance of producing more heirs to secure his line. Rhaenys later speaks to Rhaenyra—Viserys's only surviving child and designated heir to the Iron Throne—and gives her a blunt lesson in politics: as much as the lords of Westeros have sworn to uphold Rhaenyra's position as her father's heir, she knows from personal experience that such oaths can easily be reneged on, and that having a woman on the throne is a much more controversial prospect than the young princess realizes.
Viserys arrives at the Velaryon island stronghold of High Tide to negotiate with Corlys, who had previously resigned as Master of Ships on the king's Small Council over Viserys's decision to marry Alicent Hightower rather than Laena. Rhaenys seems concerned at the apparently ill health of her cousin, but Viserys dismisses the matter and proposes that his daughter Rhaenyra should marry Laena's brother Laenor, and their firstborn child would someday inherit the Iron Throne. Both sides agree to the terms, but Rhaenys privately confesses to her husband that Laenor's secret preference for men may only cause further complications. She also admits that she made peace long ago with the fact that she wasn't chosen as queen.
==Quotes==
===Spoken by Rhaenys===
===Spoken about Rhaenys===
==Family==
==Behind the scenes==
Rhaenys Targaryen was revealed to be a recurring character in House of the Dragon on December 8, 2020. On February 11, 2021, HBO announced that Eve Best had been cast in the role for the series. Her character description reads as follows:
:"A dragonrider and wife to Lord Corlys Velaryon, "The Queen Who Never Was" was passed over as heir to the throne at the Great Council because the realm favored her cousin, Viserys, simply for being male."
In The Dance of Dragons, a featurette from Game of Thrones: The Complete Fifth Season, Rhaenys is erroneously identified as King Viserys's sister.
==In the books==
In Fire & Blood, Rhaenys Targaryen was the daughter of Prince Aemon Targaryen and Lady Jocelyn Baratheon, born in 74 AC on the seventh day of the seventh month. She was a great beauty, possessing the signature Baratheon black hair and Targaryen pale violet eyes. By the age of fifty-five she had a lean, lined face and her hair was streaked with white. She was clever, capable, spirited, proud, fierce, and fearless, with a fiery temperament. In battle, she wore steel and copper armor that flashed in the sun.
Her father was the Prince of Dragonstone, and since she was his firstborn child many considered Rhaenys to be next in line to the Iron Throne. Her grandmother Queen Alysanne called her "our queen to be."
In 89 AC she joined her grandfather King Jaehaerys I for part of his royal progress. She flew to Highgarden on her dragon Meleys to meet up with the king and together they flew to all four of the Shield Islands. During this trip she informed him of her intention to marry Lord Corlys Velaryon, and he gave her his blessing. She married Corlys the following year, arriving at the wedding on Meleys at her own insistence, and two years later learned that she was pregnant with her first child.
In 92 AC, Rhaenys's father died, and the king was forced to formally appoint a new heir to the throne. Rhaenys's uncle Baelon was chosen as the new heir, causing Rhaenys to protest the decision and her husband Corlys to give up his position as lord admiral and his place on the Small Council. Rhaenys's mother and grandmother were both angered by the decision, as was her uncle Boremund Baratheon.
Rhaenys and Corlys returned to Driftmark and in 92 AC she gave birth to a daughter, Laena Velaryon, and a son Laenor in 94 AC. Both House Velaryon and House Baratheon protested that Laenor had a stronger claim to the throne, but Baelon remained King Jaehaerys's heir.
Baelon died in 101 AC and King Jaehaerys held a Great Council at Harrenhal to determine the line of succession. Rhaenys and her children were among fourteen claims considered: she and her daughter Laena were rejected on account of their sex, but the final candidates were Viserys and Rhaenys's son Laenor. Rhaenys's uncle Boremund and Lord Ellard Stark were both outspoken in their support of her claim, along with House Dustin and House Manderly. Corlys used his wealth to persuade the vassal Houses along the coasts of the narrow sea to support Laenor's claim as well, such as Lords Bar Emmon and Celtigar. In the final vote, however, Baelon's son Viserys won by a wide margin: while the ballot was secret, it was rumored that he beat Laenor by a factor of twenty to one. Following this, the fool Mushroom gave Rhaenys the moniker of "The Queen Who Never Was," which became a popular nickname for her among the commoners.
==Appearances==
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==References==
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Category:Black Council
Category:Crownlanders
Category:Dragonriders
Category:Individuals appearing in House of the Dragon
Category:Individuals from The Dance of Dragons
Category:Ladies
Rhaenys Targaryen
Rhaenys Targaryen
Category:Princesses
Category:Regents
de:Rhaenys Targaryen (Königin der Herzen)
es:Rhaenys Targaryen, hija de Aemon/House of the Dragon
fr:Rhaenys Targaryen (la Reine qui ne le Fut Jamais)
it:Rhaenys Targaryen (figlia di Aemon)
pl:Rhaenys Targaryen (Królowa, Której Nie Było)
pt-br:Rhaenys Velaryon
ru:Рейнис Таргариен
uk:Рейніс Тарґеріен
zh:雷妮丝·坦格利安(伊蒙之女)