House of the Dragon Introduced New Bastards That Will Change Westeros Forever

09/25/2022 11:46 pm EDT

The long-awaited time jump on House of the Dragon brought some new characters into the mix. Episode six of HBO's Game of Thrones prequel, "The Princess and the Queen," saw the story leap 10 years into the future. While many of the core characters remained the same, the jump in time allowed several young characters to join the action. Both Rhaenyra and Alicent have children that are getting older, and they will play a very important role in the show moving forward.

WARNING: This article contains major spoilers from the latest episode of House of the Dragon! Continue reading at your own risk...

Alicent's first children were born earlier in the series, but they were very young. Rhaenyra, however, didn't have children until episode six. The episode kicked off with Rhaenyra giving birth to her third son, Joffrey, whom Laenor named after his late friend (and secret lover). The couple had two older sons — Jacaerys and Lucerys — during the time jump. However, it's strongly suggested throughout the episode that the children don't actually belong to Laenor.

Rhaenyra and Laenor made an arrangement before their wedding that they could continue seeing the people they wanted, as long as they could have children and produce heirs. Laenor, a gay man, could continue seeing men, while Rhaenyra could spend intimate time with whoever she wanted. It turns out, she spent a lot of time with Ser Harwin Strong.

All three of Rhaenyra's sons look nothing like Laenor. In fact, they all have brown hair, just like Harwin. Everyone close to Rhaenyra believes they are Harwin's children, though Rhaenyra obviously hasn't confessed to that. Even Laenor joked about the kids not really being his.

The lineage of these kids will likely play a major role later in the show. Rhaenyra is the heir to the Iron Throne. However, Alicent's children actually belong to her and Viserys. The Queen obviously believes her children should eventually get the throne, and any confirmation of Rhaenyra's affair would put her entire line in jeopardy. 

As tensions rise between Rhaenyra and Alicent, issues will also surface between their children. Sunday's episode showed the beginnings of those issues, with Aemond as the one who seems to be the most upset about the existence of Rhaenyra's boys. Aegon, Alicent's oldest, doesn't seem to care. That will eventually change.

With Harwin's death at the end of the episode, it becomes likely that no one will ever be able to prove Rhaenyra's children don't belong to Laenor.

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