House Of The Dragon Decoded: Would Wedding Rhaenyra To Harwin Have Prevented The Dance?

Would marrying off Rhaeynra to Ser Harwin have prevented the Dance of the Dragon that brought down the Targaryen dynasty?

By Ishita Chatterjee
February 1,2023
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It has been months since “House of the Dragon” stopped airing, but fans are still debating about the characters and the relationships between them. Season 2 will begin the civil war also known as the Dance of the Dragons and it will end in the fall of the Targaryen dynasty and the death of all their flying beasts.

Till now, multiple alternate scenarios have been discussed that might have prevented the war. But there’s still one left. Fans are asking if Rhaenyra getting married to Harwin would have prevented the catastrophic war. So let us decode it.

What Would Have Happened If Rhaenyra Had Been Married To Harwin?

Ser Harwin Strong and Princess Rhaenyra
Ser Harwin Strong and Princess Rhaenyra

If Lyonel Strong had proposed marrying Ser Harwin and Rhaenyra to King Viserys (and if the King had accepted) then the situation would have been different. For one, she wouldn’t have slept with Criston Cole or had bastards. As such she would have had the support of Cole and birthed true heirs.

This would have not allowed Otto Hightower or anyone else to use the argument that she had bastard children as a reasoning against her being Queen. Furthermore, the reason why Alicent Hightower turns on Rhaenyra is because the princess lies to her about sleeping with Criston and being out with Daemon in the seedy parts of the town.

With Rahenyra’s marriage to Harwin, she probably wouldn’t have done either of these things. As such, there would have been no reason to lie to Alicent. So she would have been on her side. Many fans mistakenly think that it is Otto’s threat that Rhaenyra will kill Alicent’s kids that propeled her to hate the princess.

But that’s not true. She was advocating for Rhaenyra to be Queen even after Aegon II was born. Also, Larys wouldn’t have anything on her and wouldn’t have killed his father and brother. But that wouldn’t have been enough to prevent an uprising against Rhaenyra.

The Dance Of The Dragons Would Still Have Happened

Alicent and Otto Hightower
Alicent and Otto Hightower

The Dance of the Dragons would still have happened because Otto and many other Lords problems with Rhaenyra stemmed from the fact that she was a woman. Otto Hightower even says that it wouldn’t have mattered if she was Jaehaerys born again because Rhaenyra is a woman.

Otto was plotting to get Aegon II the crown on as early as his 2nd birthday. This was even before Rhaenyra slept with anyone or had children. So her having bastards later on was just another point against her ruling as Queen. As such, it wasn’t the fundamental issue at all.

However, since Viserys hadn’t changed the succession so she would have probably been able to gather more support without the additional issues plaguing her rule. However, there still would have been trouble.

What do you think about this “House of the Dragon” speculation? Let us know.