Okay, Why Does House Targaryen Do Incest, Like, All the Time?

Watching House of the Dragon means getting your mind right for a lot of incest, unfortunately. Whether it’s siblings whose parents force them to marry each other or a star-crossed romance between uncle and niece…it’s gonna happen and it’s gonna happen a lot. Why is there so much incest on House of the Dragon? Why is House Targaryen so in love with itself? There is a method to the madness that is the Targaryen tradition of incest. It may not make sense to us, but it does make sense to them.

For context, it’s worth mentioning that inbreeding was not uncommon in IRL royal families throughout history. There was at least one point in history when all European monarchs were cousins. George R. R. Martin didn’t just make this up to be twisted when he was writing the Song of Ice and Fire books. However, the fictional Targaryen tradition of marrying siblings together feels extreme even by the standard set by the Hapsburgs, for example. Here’s what you need to know about this “tradition.”

They do, believe it or not, have a reason

Only people with Targaryen genetics can ride dragons. So in order to preserve that tradition and not lose their connection to the species, they feel compelled to intermarry. Not every Targaryen is betrothed to another Targaryen. But if one person marries someone from another house for love or to seal an alliance, their child will most likely be encouraged to marry someone with Targaryen blood and get things back on track.

There’s also the Prince That Was Promised prophecy that Viserys revealed to Rhaenyra in the pilot of House of the Dragon as the reason Targaryens must be on the Iron Throne. Keeping it in the family helps to strengthen their hold on the throne.

How is it not a sin under their super-conservative religion?

Remember that time on Game of Thrones in season 5 when Cersei pushed for a militant faction of Westeros’s religion to take over and then that bit her in the butt when she was accused of sleeping with her brother (accurate) and Rebecca from Ted Lasso made her walk around naked while everyone yelled SHAME, SHAME, SHAME? That’s the religion, the Faith of the Seven, that is prevalent in Westeros at the time of House of the Dragon.

What happened was that King Jaehaerys, who was king right before Rhaenyra’s father Viserys, appealed to the Faith leadership and obtained an exception for his family. Simply put: Incest is considered a sin and an abomination in Westeros for everyone except House Targaryen. The rule literally doesn’t apply to them. Before Jaehaerys got the Faith’s blessing, there was a lot of drama about the rampant incest in House Targaryen. In fact, there was an uprising led by the Faith Militant that resurfaced in season 5 of Game of Thrones. You’d think Cersei would have remembered that tidbit, but she probably thought she could get an exception for herself too.

Back when they lived in Valyria instead of Westeros, the kings of House Targaryen also practiced plural marriage—something Daemon Targaryen seemed interested in exploring on House of the Dragon—but as far as we know, the Faith of the Seven has not granted them that exception. Polygamy is still frowned upon, at least.

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