never a color of hair on television has been so important. Yes, this phrase may seem exaggerated right now, but once you read what we have to tell you about the rhaenys hairsthe queen who never was in House of the Dragonsurely you end up giving us the reason.
At this point, we are not telling you anything new when we explain that TV series always take certain creative licenses when it comes to adapting books. In case of the house of the dragon It has not been an exception, one of the most striking and curious modifications being that of Rhaenys’ hair. And is that, what reasons can there be to change the color?
Wait: but isn’t she a Targaryen?
Yes, Rhaenys Targaryen, as her last name suggests, is a full-fledged Targaryen, the daughter of Jaehaerys’ firstborn son. The Queen That Never Wasas she was nicknamed at court, was left without acceding to the throne because she was a woman, despite being a direct descendant of Aemon -who died unexpectedly after a fortuitous attack-, and in her place, a man, her cousin Viserys, son of Baelon Targaryen and Alyssa Targaryen (who were brothers) is in charge of wearing the crown and sitting on the Iron Throne.
It is logical therefore to expect that Rhaenys, after and as shown in the series of the service of HBO Maxhave the hair of platinum blonde color, a characteristic feature of the dragon family. However, this character’s mother was Lady Jocelyn. Baratheon, a woman with very dark hair.
The dominant genes did their job when Rhaenys was born and in the book of fire and blood, the Targaryen has black hair, clearly inherited from her mother. Such is the importance of genetics in this case and its dominance that, several centuries later, this fact so popularly known will be the one that makes Ned Stark doubt about bastardy of Joffrey, supposedly “son” of Robert Baratheon and who, however, was blond like his real parents -Cersei and Jaime Lannister.
This is exactly how they explain it in this tweet:
out of context house of the dragon
@oochotd
In the book canon of Fire & Blood Princess Rhaenys Targaryen has black hair from the genetics of her mother, Jocelyn Baratheon.
Baratheon genetics are extremely dominant and all have dark hair.
This is apart of why Ned Stark was sure of Joffrey being a bastard. #HouseOfTheDragon https://t.co/EpQyyMD7B0September 29, 2022 • 00:00
Explained things like this, surely you are wondering: «And then, why have they changed it?
Making things easy for the viewer
Despite the fact that what we have just told you does not have much complication, It must be recognized that facing the gallery, it could be somewhat confusing for the viewer who does not know the history of the book. So much so that in a clear attempt to simplify and bring more identity to the Targaryen features, the creators of the series decided to change the hair color.
This on screen help in addition to a very important plot within the story, that of the bastard of the children of Rhaenyra: Since Rhaenys is blonde (and therefore a key feature of the Targaryens and Velaryons), the dark hair of Jacaerys, Lucerys and Joffrey is even more evident -inherited from their real father, a Strong-, something that draws the attention of everyone, including the Alicent. Also remember that Rhaenys is the grandmother one of those creatures, so keeping his dark hair would have made it all that much more incongruous on the small screen.
Let’s say makes more sense to all the doubts that hang over the offspring of Rhaenyra and the viewer is not blown away.
