There was a time when good, hard-working, Max-subscribed Americans knew a good blockbuster when they saw one, and honored that with their designated tube time.

In fact, those days weren’t very long ago at all. Not even a week ago, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire stood quite triumphantly atop Max’s worldwide film rankings, at once proving that, even if they’re wrapped up in a cartoony monster-brawl package, nutritious creative stylings were still common in the average Max subscriber’s diet.

Unfortunately, that seems to be a thing of the past now, because if you dare to peek at the summit of Max’s worldwide film rankings now, you’ll be greeted by the thoroughly rank mug of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire; the single biggest culprit of soulless fan service that we’ve seen all year.

Per FlixPatrol, at the time of writing on Aug. 12, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has fallen down to fourth place in the time since Frozen Empire‘s acclimation, with Illumination’s Migration shoring up second place and Canadian fantasy thriller The King Tide coming in at number three.

Any of those three would be preferable to Frozen Empire, which has emerged as yet another powerful villain of the streaming world alongside fellow Sony sins Madame Web and Tarot; the former of which has established a multi-incident saga across Netflix and Max, and the latter of which has recently found itself doing battle against Sandy Cheeks, Mario, and the Minions in one of the streaming front’s most cursed showdowns yet.

In any case, here’s hoping that Godzilla and King Kong can scrounge up enough mojo to dislodge this bastardization of the good Ghostbusters name, but if that’s not in the cards, then we’ll just as eagerly take a victory from a bunch of ducks or a Christ-like little girl who washed up on the shores of Newfoundland.

The last time we checked in on the Madame Web streaming saga, Sony’s abhorrent superhero flick was shoring up the number three spot on Max, because apparently not enough of us had learned our lesson from its theatrical and Netflix runs.

Indeed, it was bad enough that the Max faithful allowed this vile mistreatment of Dakota Johnson and S. J. Clarkson to climb as high as third place, but we somehow managed to lift it to second place on the worldwide Max movie rankings in recent days. Irresponsibility has never known a better name.

But fear not; an influx of Max insurgents have begun the fight to push this disgusting 116 minutes of scarlet-tinted pessimism out the door once more. Their weapon of choice? Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, whose snappy race to the Max viewership summit has shoved Madame Web back down to third place.

Per FlixPatrol, the gonzo Monsterverse fiesta (that, against all odds, was genuinely fantastic) has taken over the streamer’s worldwide film rankings by quite some distance, with Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre taking up a distant second place, and Madame Web, the enemy of the state, once again shoring up third place.

Admittedly, we’ve still got a long way to go before Madame Web falls out of the Top 10 and victory is achieved once more. And with no Fifty Shades of Grey in sight to bail us out this time around, it’s going to take quite a bit of blood, sweat, tears, and giant monsters punching the ever-loving crap out of one another if we’re ever going to see a brighter, Ezekiel Sims-deprived tomorrow.

Why are streaming subscribers so dead set on using our screen time to enable the most cynically uncreative genre fiction catastrophe of this year? That’s right, folks; Madame Web is back on the streaming charts with a vengeance. Netflix viewers already prioritized it over genuine classics and cheer-worthy success stories, but now that it’s dropped out of the Netflix Top 10, it’s Max‘s turn to keep sounding this abhorrent gong.

Over on Max, Madame Web is terrorizing the number three worldwide spot for film viewership. Occupying spots number one and two, respectively, are Dune: Part Two, and Am I OK?, which, ironically, happens to be a fantastic Dakota Johnson movie (and an example of what the actress is capable of when she’s not working with bottom-of-the-barrel scripts).

This Max success marks part five of the Madame Web streaming saga, having kicked off with its eclipsing of Shrek and Anyone But You before butting heads with Atlas, and finally getting dismissed from Netflix’s Top 10 with the arrival of Fifty Shades of Grey (which, presumably, hails from the same rock that Madame Web crawled out from under). The Netflix arc may have ended, but now that it’s feeding on the brains of the Max faithful, one shudders to imagine just how many victims Madame Web will claim before it well and truly fades into obscurity.

If you happen to be a good Max Samaritan looking to dislodge Madame Web from its position, we recommend queueing up The Menu, the Anya Taylor-Joy-led horror comedy that’s slowly creeping up the Max rankings, and our greatest hope of combating this threat with a genuinely excellent movie.

Unlike its predecessor, House of the Dragon has the benefit of not needing to stay too close to the source material. A Song of Ice and Fire constructs an unimpeachable narrative, but Fire & Blood is a little different.

George R.R. Martin’s tome is essentially a telling of Targaryen histories but from two different sources in Westeros. This makes the versions up for interpretation, allowing the Max series to do with the book what they will. However, it was one of the biggest moments from Fire & Blood that gave viewers pause when it cropped up in the season 2 premiere, “A Son For A Son.” The quote from Daemon (Matt Smith) is arguably one of the most famous from the book and though uttered in the episode, still veers away from the content that fans know from the book. 

What happens with Blood and Cheese in the book?

When season 2 opens, the story is already at a different place. In the book, Daemon promises to give Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) a “son for a son,” though he is already at Harrenhaal, strengthening her hold on Westeros. This promise culminates in a sequence that was altered in a variety of ways. The book depicts the assault on Helaena’s children (Phia Saban) from her perspective, getting to the meat of the story.

There is no ominous stalking through the castle from Blood and Cheese’s perspective. Instead, Helaena is confronted with a choice no mother should make. At the time in Fire & Blood, the young queen is a mother to 3 children, not 2. Her eldest are twins Jaehaerys and Jaehaera — a boy and a girl. She later gives birth to another boy named Maelor.

When Blood and Cheese arrive in her quarters, they demand that Helaena choose which of her sons should die. Thinking that the kinder option is to kill Maelor since he is so young, she points him out. In an act of vicious cruelty, the assassins kill Jaehaerys instead and taunt the young child that his mother wants him dead. Showrunner Ryan Condal spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about why these changes were made. 

“The period of history season one covered, it was still a compressed time period — the book covered 30-plus years, and we crunched it down to 20. One of the side effects is you have: Rhaenyra and Daemon’s children are much younger than they were in the book, as are Helaena and Aegon’s children. They haven’t been together long enough to have two generations of kids. So Maelor does not yet exist, and we only have the twins. So working from that place, we just wanted to try to make Blood and Cheese a visceral television sequence.” 

Visceral is the correct word for this event. Viewers do not see the act itself as the camera pulls away, but what is more frightening is what you don’t see. As Helaena grabs Jaehaera and attempts to escape, there is no masking what Blood and Cheese are doing to the prince. The vicious stabs and sound effects are enough to demonstrate how much the assassins are mutilating the body. 

Condal also notes the other key difference of the scene.

“We decided to tell it from their point of view and make it like a heist gone wrong. Whereas in the book, it’s depicted purely from Helaena and Alicent’s perspective. Blood and Cheese come upon Helaena, and she’s sort of the third act of their story. The idea was to build suspense and dread as they’re looking for Aemond, whom Daemon names as the target, and then you put two criminals into a situation with gold in front of their faces and things can go wrong.”

Alicent (Olivia Cooke) is present during the murderous act, though not as much in the series. After Helaena grabs her surviving child, she runs to her mother’s quarters, who is in flagrante with Knight of the Kingsguard, Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel). This change also makes the scene more visceral, though for different reasons. Cole’s hypocrisy of flip-flopping between the 2 queens is not noted in Fire & Blood, and not even noted by Helaena who witnesses the act.

Cole’s previous relationship is only the subject of rumor in Martin’s book, while the show takes a far more direct approach in explaining why Cole turned from the Targaryen princess to the dowager queen. Despite the different adaptation, the result is the same. The death of Helaena’s son will have supreme repercussions when season 2, episode 2 premieres on Max.

The following article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon.

Rhaenyra Targaryen is a complex character. On one hand, in the first season of House of the Dragon, the young and budding Rhaenyra proudly proclaims that she does not wish her legacy to be one purely connected to making heirs. However, in the latter half of the season, we see her with two children and counting.

This goes to show that regardless of one’s power or social standing, it is difficult to evade the patriarchal society from which they come. At her core, she is acutely aware of the gender politics in Westeros, understanding that her value as a woman and a princess is ultimately tied to how well she serves the country by producing an heir — despite her wish to become Queen.

As Rhaenyra enters motherhood, her first set of children are officially with Ser Laenor Velaryon, although biologically, they are Ser Harwin Strong’s. All of her younger children, however, are with her second husband and uncle, Daemon. But exactly how many does she have?

How many kids does Rhaenyra Targaryen have?

Rhaenyra, in total, has six children — three of whom are with her uncle, Daemon Targaryen. Her eldest children, Jacaerys Velaryon, Lucerys Velaryon, and Joffrey Velaryon, were all born while she was married to Laenor Velaryon. However, once her husband was no longer in the picture, Rhaenyra went on to have three more children with Daemon: Aegon III, Viserys II, and Visenya, her only daughter. Daemon, alternatively, has another two living children with his late-wife Laena Velaryon, Baela and Rhaena.

Unfortunately, in episode 9 of the first season, Visenya is stillborn after a painful birthing sequence. In the following episode, Rhaenyra loses another one of her children, Lucerys, who dies after his cousin and half-uncle Aemond fails to control his dragon, Vhagar, kicking off the bloody events of the second season.

The second season of Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon officially debuted on Max on June 16, but the season’s highly-anticipated rollout left some viewers in the dark.

Or, more accurately, in the quiet. Issues with the first episode’s audio were widely reported in the wake of the show’s big return, leaving a number of viewers frustrated and grappling with a glitchy rollout. Following months of eager anticipation, the issues were met with broad irritation from fans, some of whom opted to hold off on their viewings until the audio problems had been resolved.

What happened with the audio on House of the Dragon?

While audio issues appeared to be rampant across House of the Dragon season 2 viewers, they thankfully didn’t extend to the entire episode. Viewers started flagging audio glitches the moment the episode came available to watch, but those glitches largely related to the season 1 recap, preview for episode 2, and commentary from the show runner and season 2 stars.

What wasn’t affected, many people were quick to note, were the ads that preceded the episode and were scattered through its runtime. Ads seemed to function fine for the majority of viewers, even as they grappled with a complete loss of sound during far more vital moments, which was noted as a source of extreme irritation for the vast majority of jilted viewers.

The issue was widespread enough to pull in rampant complaints, but since the audio failings didn’t affect the episode itself, most people shrugged them off with little but a frustrated eye-roll. They were likely related to the high traffic prompted by the fresh House of the Dragon season, and viewers are broadly hoping they’ll be resolved before episode 2 airs on Sunday, June 23.

The following article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon season 2.

The Dance of the Dragons is nigh, and sooner rather than later, war will be knocking on the doors of King’s Landing. “An eye for an eye, and a son for a son” are the words that start the civil war in House of the Dragon.

While the two main characters of this Game of Thrones prequel are essentially forced to be enemies — despite their loving and caring past — their children are also caught in the midst of a bellicose hostility in their household. They are constantly fighting for the throne, either for themselves or on behalf of their mother. This puts them directly in harm’s way, and at this point, we know Lucerys Velaryon will be the one son who never gets the chance to sit on the Iron Throne. But what about the rest?

Who will become King of the Seven Kingdoms?

After Aegon and Rhaenyra’s brief reign over the Seven Kingdoms, two of Rhaenyra’s sons become kings, and that’s Aegon and Viserys. Although in the Max series, we’ve only seen the eldest as a toddler, Aegon III Targaryen will be one of the heirs of Rhaenyra (and Daemon) to sit on the Iron Throne. It happens after the Dance of the Dragons comes to an end, with Rhaenyra’s supporters celebrating victory.

He became the rightful heir to the throne, where its previous occupants, Aegon II and his own mother Rhaenyra, had their claims consistently disputed — either by each other, the royal council, or the realm. This means that out of six of Rhaenyra’s children, only Aegon became Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. In his liege, he also became known as “Aegon the unlucky,” and “The Broken King.” Ominous times ahead, clearly.

After Aegon III ascended the throne, his successor was his eldest son, Daeron I Targaryen. Following the passing of his nephew, another of Rhaenyra’s sons ascended the throne — Viserys II. Though without a moniker to his name, Viserys II was considered by many to be one of Westeros’ wisest rulers. However, his reign came to an abrupt end after a sudden illness struck not long after he took the throne, thus putting an end to Rhaenyra’s line of succession.

Another season of political intrigue is upon us as House of the Dragon returns to the small screens to transport viewers to the Seven Kingdoms.

The Game of Thrones spinoff came out in 2022 to acclaim, reviving interest in George R.R. Martin’s fictional universe after the main show’s disaster of a final season had ruined all its prospects. Its only fault was that it ran for the usual 10 episodes and left viewers hanging. Now, almost two years later, the Targaryens are back in another chapter of this story, all but aimed at the devastating civil war known as the Dance of Dragons.

As is always the case with Westeros, you’ve probably forgotten half the important plot threads due to their sheer number, and can’t be bothered to remember what each face out of dozens signified for the story. So, if you’re looking for an overall recap of House of the Dragon season 1, you’re in the right place.

House of the Dragon began with the death of King Jaehaerys and the ascension of Viserys his grandson to the Iron Throne. The show depicts the Great Council of 101 AC where both Viserys and Rhaenys Targaryen put their claim forth, but the former ends up securing the favor of the lords.

Several years later, King Viserys is preparing for the birth of his firstborn son, but Queen Aemma dies in labor. The infant, named Baelon after Viserys’ father, died a day after being born. Prince Daemon, the King’s brother, is killing time in a brothel and in envy refers to the infant as “heir for a day.” This enrages Viserys, who refuses to acknowledge Daemon as heir and exiles him to Runestone. Viserys names his daughter Rhaenyra the Princess of Dragonstone and heir to the Iron Throne.

The show then continues to introduce and explore several powerful players in the current dynamic of the Seven Kingdoms. One is Otto Hightower, Hand of the King, who has Viserys’ ear. Another is Corlys Velaryon, the Lord of the Tides and the master of ships.

Corlys and Rhaenys wish to strengthen their alliance with the throne by marrying their daughter Laena Velaryon to Viserys, but the king decides to marry Alicent Hightower instead. This caused a rift between Alicent and Rhaenyra, who had been close friends until then.

Meanwhile, Prince Daemon wages a war against the Triarchy over the control of the Stepstones and manages to defeat them with the help of Corlys. He returns to court and offers his trophy crown to Viserys. The two brothers reconcile, but Daemon’s attempt to seduce Rhaenyra and take away her virtue once again infuriates Viserys and causes his banishment. Ser Otto Hightower, too, is banished to Oldtown after Rhaenyra convinces the king of his treasonously ambitious intentions.

Alicent gives birth to two sons, Prince Aegon and Prince Aemond, but that doesn’t sway Viserys to change his plans regarding the succession. Viserys continues to groom Rhaenyra for the rule, and the rift between Alicent and Rhaenyra causes two factions to be formed in the king’s court: The Blacks, designating those royal to Rhaenyra’s claim, and the Greens, supporters of Alicent Hightower and her sons.

Rhaenyra reluctantly marries Laenor Velaryon at Viserys’ behest to regain the friendship of the Lord of the Tides and to secure her position as heir. But since Laenor is gay, the two never consummated their marriage and instead came to an understanding of sorts. Meanwhile, Rhaenyra gets intimate with Ser Harwin Strong, the son of Ser Lyonel Strong, the Hand of the King. She gives birth to Lucerys Velaryon and Jacaerys Velaryon.

Years later, Prince Daemon’s second wife, Laena Velaryon, dies in labor. Things come to a head at her funeral when Prince Aemond accuses Rhaenyra’s sons of being Strong bastards. Lucerys wounds Aemond in the eye with a knife. King Viserys orders the two sides to cease hostilities immediately and issues that anyone spreading the rumor about Rhaenyra and Harwin Strong will lose their tongue.

When Laenor Velaryon dies, Rhaenyra and Daemon decide to marry in secret, causing yet another outrage within the king’s court. Rhaenyra vies for his son to be named the heir of Driftmark, but the matter of their legitimacy is once again brought up. Viserys, now old, ill, and weak, musters the last of his strength to settle the matter. He then asks the two families to set aside their differences for his sake, and Rhaenyra and Alicent seemingly make peace.

On his deathbed, Viserys once again recounts the prophecy of “the prince that was promised,” which Alicent misinterprets to mean that he wishes Aegon to succeed him. After the king dies, the Small Council convenes and plans to usurp the throne from Rhaenyra, who was Viserys’ rightful heir. Aegon is crowned king, but Rhaenys, on her dragon Meleys, disrupts the ceremony and kills many attendants.

The two sides begin to recruit allies, with Prince Lucerys approaching Borros Targaryen to secure his allegiance. The first season ends on a somber note after Aemond kills Lucerys. Rhaenyra is devastated after hearing the news, and the finale closes with the promise of fire and blood.

The unpredictable and chaotic world of isekai has seen its fair share of protagonists, from sword-wielding slimes to reincarnated washing machines and even a spider. But Harley Quinn in an isekai anime? Now that’s a sentence I never thought I’d say, but here we are!

Warner Bros. Japan, in collaboration with Wit Studio, is venturing into what might just be its most ambitious anime crossover yet with Suicide Squad ISEKAI. After the 2018 Batman Ninja and the more recent My Adventures with Superman, it’s clear that Warner isn’t shy about dipping its beloved DC characters into the rich, often quirky ink of anime. For long-time DC fans, it’s a fresh way to see old favorites without having to squint at subtitles or wrestle with the intricacies of a totally foreign cast—unless you consider orcs and dragons “foreign”, which, fair point.

Okay, but when is Suicide Squad ISEKAI releasing?

In Suicide Squad ISEKAI, Amanda Waller, the ever-resourceful puppeteer, pulls yet another one of her infamous strings, sending the Squad through a mysterious gate and into a realm filled with all the classic fantasy fixings. Our beloved band of rogues—Harley, Deadshot, Peacemaker, Clayface, and King Shark—find themselves seemingly out of their universe. They have 72 hours to untangle a magical mess before the explosives implanted in their necks turn their field trip into a farewell tour. 

The adventure kicks off with a three-episode bang on June 27, 2024, on Max and Hulu. After that, keep your Tuesdays free because you’ll get a new episode each week, leading up to the grand finale on August 15, 2024. By then, if all goes according to Amanda Waller’s sinister plan, we’ll have witnessed emotional backstabbing to fill a grimoire. Or, at the very least, enough material to keep the water cooler conversations sparkling with “Did you see that?” moments.

After the global phenomenon of Game of Thrones and its infamous series finale, it was a toss-up as to whether fans would be willing to tune in to a prequel show. However, season 1 of House of the Dragon surpassed expectations, breaking records on HBO and attracting a brand-new audience to the world of Westeros. 

The Emmy-nominated and Golden Globe-winning show finally began its marketing run ahead of its second season this year. Here’s everything you need to know about the release date, returning cast, trailer, and more about House of the Dragon season 2.

House of the Dragon Trailer and Plot

Based on George R. R. Martin’s book Fire and Blood, House of the Dragon is a prequel story to Game of Thrones that follows the Targaryen family at the height of their rule of Westeros. The story chronicles the events that led to the demise of the Targaryens, a civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons. 

HBO released a teaser for the second season of House of the Dragon in December 2023 that was full of dragons and fire. However, the real marketing for season 2 started in March, 2024 when two trailers were released to highlight the motivations of the dueling sides of the civil war. The Blacks, led by Princess Rhaenyra and her uncle/husband Daemon, and the Greens, led by Queen Alicent and her father Otto Hightower both state their motivations and goals for the upcoming war in their respective trailers. The Black and Green trailers were followed by a full trailer in May which showed both sides gearing up for battle. With foreboding dialogue about the responsibilities of the protector of the realm, usurpers, and the multiple ways a war can be fought, the trailer depicted the tension and strife that viewers can expect going into the season.

War is coming!

The final lines of the trailer, “War is coming, and neither of us might win,” are the perfect foreshadowing for how the Dance of the Dragons will ultimately conclude. Season 2 will have only eight episodes, as opposed to the expected 10, seemingly because the showrunners have decided to move some plot points to the third season. 

Moreover, showrunner Ryan Condal revealed that season 2 will introduce five new dragons, satiating the desires that fans voiced after the first season. As House of the Dragon is based on an already completed novel, most of the broad strokes of character arcs are already widely known by fans. However, Condal has stated that the show will not follow the book too closely, which many fans already noted from the subtle changes made in season 1.

One thing that fans are excited about is Aemond seeing the consequences of his actions at the season 1 finale once Rhaenyra finds out about the death of her son. Fans are also looking forward to a confrontation between Rhaenyra and Alicent and a battle between the dragons on both sides. The only thing we know for sure is that the season is going to be intense. 

House of the Dragon season 2 release window and cast

Shortly after the premier of House of the Dragon in 2022, the show was renewed for a second season. After a long year and a half of waiting, HBO finally revealed the release date of the next season alongside a trailer and a lot of promotional material.

House of the Dragon season 2 will be released on HBO on June 16, 2024. According to HBO, House of the Dragon was one of the few shows that wasn’t majorly affected by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in 2023. This was because the actors on the show were not members of SAG-AFTRA as most were British, and the script for the second season was already complete before the WGA strike began.

Many of the major cast from the first season will be reprising their roles in the second. This includes:

• Emma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaeneyra Targaryen
• Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen
• Olivia Cooke as Queen Alicent Hightower
• Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower
• Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Velaryon
• Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon 
• Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole
• Tom Glynn-Carney as King Aegon II
• Ewan Mitchell as Prince Aemond Targaryen
• Matthew Needham as Larys Strong
• Harry Collett as Prince Jacaerys Velaryon

Some new cast members include: Simon Russell Beale as Ser Simon Strong, Abubakar Saim as Alyn of Hull, Freddie Fox as Ser Gwayne Hightower, and Gayle Rankin as Alys Rivers. 

As anyone can attest, Westerosi weddings are no laughing matter. In both George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, anyone looking for matrimony will also find consequences.

And while Princess Rhaenyra’s (Emma D’Arcy) wedding to her cousin Laenor Velaryon (John Macmillan) wasn’t quite as fraught as the infamous Red Wedding, there was still some bloodshed which would portend a difficult marriage. While the couple had fraternal affection for each other, it was no secret that their specific needs lay elsewhere. Laenor was quite transparent about his relationships with men, while Rhaenyra was also free with her… heart. 

For a time, the two tried conceiving heirs as was their duty, but their sexual appetites made it difficult. Ultimately, Rhaenyra chooses the Commander of the City Watch, Ser Harwin Strong (Ryan Corr), as a lover, and he fathers her first 3 sons. Laenor loves them as his own, and they have quite a functional family for some time. But her children’s parentage is easy to cast doubt on, and eventually, their happy little family comes crumbling down.

What happens to Laenor in House of the Dragon?

The questions surrounding the birth of Rhaenya’s children all come to a head at the funeral of Laenor’s sister, Laena (Nanna Blondell). After dying in childbirth — with the help of some Dragonfire — Laena is laid to rest at Driftmark. Laenor is inconsolable and makes a spectacle of himself, while Rhaenyra is left to fend off the dogs by herself. 

Her only solace is her uncle, Daemon (Matt Smith) — recently single. The two give into their torrid affections for each other preceding the Hightower announcement that Rhaenyra’s children are bastards. The writing is on the wall for the princess, and she knows she needs a strong alliance to keep her safe. The only problem is that Laenor is essentially useless in this. She needs the strength of her uncle and to unite with him in the old ways of Valyria. Both of them understand that to do this, they must get rid of Laenor. Laenor’s death will solve their marriage problem and send a message that this Targaryen lineage is not to be trifled with. 

Daemon enlists Laenor’s lover, Qarl (Arty Froushan), in this endeavor, and, in the halls of Driftmark, there is a public altercation between the two. When Laenor’s parents, Rhaenys (Eve Best) and Corlys (Toussaint), arrive, their last remaining child is burnt to a crisp, ending the Verlaryon line. This tragic end allows Rhaenyra to marry Daemon and for the House of the Dragon to increase in strength. The histories in Martin’s book, Fire & Blood, view this time somewhat objectively, but there is more to see in the television adaptation.

In the final moments of the episode, it becomes clear that Laenor did not actually die. Daemon doesn’t enlist Qarl to kill Laenor but becomes a part of some clever subterfuge. The two men made sure that servants saw their public fight, so there was a supposed witness to Laenor’s death. They staged the burnt corpse so Laenor and Qarl could run away. This kills two birds with one stone. Laenor no longer has to be stifled by court life and can live as his authentic self across the Narrow Sea, while Rhaenyra can also follow her heart. This move also leaves further seasons open for a return from Laenor. Whether this comes to pass in season 2 of the series has yet to be seen. For now, we can hold fast to the fact that, at least for a time, Laenor found some happiness.

Warning: Spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 1

As we know, bloodlines in Westeros can be hard to keep track of. When it comes to the Targaryens, it’s difficult mostly because their names are all very similar if not the same, and that may be because their bloodline has kept its strong Valyrian roots, meaning, there was a lot of inbreeding amongst the members of the House of the Dragon.

But Rhaenyra’s children, Jacaerys, Lucerys, and Joffrey, are only half Targaryen, an unusual occurrence for the time. Their brown hair is a tell-tale sign that they are not pure descendants from Old Valyria, lacking the silver locks that distinguish both Targaryen and Velaryon.

That is one of the issues that certainly contributed to the civil war we see erupt by the end of Season 1: the rumored illegitimacy of Rhaenyra’s children, who were supposed to be her husband’s, Laenor. But the two, even though they tried, as Rhaenyra told Daemon, never managed to conceive.

So, who’s the father?

The father was Harwin Strong. Rhaenyra can be seen dancing with Harwin during the ball in episode 5, but it is not until episode 6 that we see that something more bloomed between them during the years of timeskip. In this episode, the two can be seen exchanging glances that are pretty telling of the nature of their relationship. Furthermore, other characters including Alicent and Ser Criston, are also implicitly vocal in their awareness of what transpired between Rhaenyra and Harwin.

Some people, even after all the clues, were left unsure about whether Ser Criston Cole could have also been the father. However, that is highly unlikely. Everything points to Harwin – not Criston, who’s decidedly bitter about Rhaenyra’s choices – being the father. The timeline would not have made sense, as Rhaenyra and Criston seem to have broken off their romance way before Rhaenyra ever became pregnant. Harwin also behaves like a doting father towards Rhaenyra’s children – as much as he deems it safe – when they are sparring against Alicent’s sons, whereas Cole is ruthless and harsh, seemingly as a means to get back at the Princess.

As for Rhaenyra’s other two sons, the twins, Aegon and Viserys, they are Daemon’s children. Not that anyone, viewers or characters, have any doubts about that.