Baela Targaryen

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House Targaryen.svg Lady
Baela Targaryen
House Velaryon.svg
Baela Targaryen by Naomimakesart.png
Baela Targaryen, by Naomimakesart ©

Aliases
Titles
Allegiances
Race Valyrian
Culture Crownlands
Born In 116 AC[6]Pentos
Died In 136176 AC[7]
Father Prince Daemon Targaryen
Mother Lady Laena Velaryon
Spouse Lord Alyn Velaryon
Issue Laena Velaryon
Books

Played by Bethany Antonia
Shani Smethurst (young)
TV series House of the Dragon: 1 | 2

Lady Baela Targaryen, also known as Baela Velaryon,[1] was a daughter of Prince Daemon Targaryen and Lady Laena Velaryon.[6] She had a younger twin sister, Rhaena Targaryen, and two younger half-brothers, Aegon and Viserys. She was a dragonrider who rode Moondancer.[3]

In the television adaptation House of the Dragon, Baela is portrayed by Bethany Antonia and Shani Smethurst (young).[8][9]

Appearance and Character

Baela and her younger twin, Rhaena, had fine features, silver-white hair, and purple eyes.[6] When she was fourteen, Baela was slim and short of stature.[3] Two years later, however, she was tall, lean, and quick.[10] The beautiful Baela cropped her hair as short as a boy's, so it would not whip about her face when she was riding.[10]

Like her father, Prince Daemon Targaryen, Baela was wild, willing, and fearless; Gyldayn considered her more boyish than ladylike.[3] She was quick to anger[11] and was known to be deliberately provocative at times.[10]

Baela enjoyed dancing, hawking, riding, and especially flying on Moondancer.[3] As she grew older, she became interested in boys.[3] She had a pet monkey.[1]

History

Youth

Baela and Rhaena Targayren, by chillyravenart ©

Baela and Rhaena were born small and sickly in Pentos in 116 AC.[6] She was named after her paternal grandfather, Prince Baelon Targaryen.[6] When they were half a year old, the twins sailed from Pentos to Driftmark with their mother, Laena Velaryon. In 117 AC, Baela was presented at court by her father, Prince Daemon Targaryen.[12]

In 118 AC, with the blessing of King Viserys I Targaryen, Baela was betrothed to Prince Jacaerys Velaryon, her cousin.[6] Baela eventually bonded to a young dragon, Moondancer.[13]

Baela grew up on Dragonstone.[13] She was often chastised for wrestling with squires in the yard of the castle.[3]

Dance of the Dragons

Baela remained on Dragonstone during the Dance of the Dragons.[14] She refused to leave her betrothed, Jacaerys, and insisted on fighting by his side on her dragon, even though Moondancer was not yet large enough to be ridden. Baela announced she would marry Jacaerys immediately, but that did not occur. According to Grand Maester Munkun, Jacaerys wanted to wait with their marriage until the civil war was done, whilst Mushroom claims Jacaerys had taken the bastard girl Sara Snow for his wife during his time at Winterfell concluding the Pact of Ice and Fire.[14]

Baela riding her dragon, Moondancer, by Samantha Altarozzi ©

Baela first flew on Moondancer in 130 AC.[3] After her step-mother, Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, won the Iron Throne, Baela divided her days between Dragonstone and Driftmark, flying back and forth on Moondancer. Baela also began playing kissing games with squires. After being caught with a kitchen scullion, Baela tearfully begged the castellan, Ser Robert Quince, not to remove the servant's hand.[3]

After the carcass of the dragon Grey Ghost had been found at the base of the Dragonmont, Ser Robert concluded the Cannibal was the killer. Robert refused to send knights to hunt down the Cannibal, believing that the murderous dragon would not hurt the people on Dragonstone if they left him alone. Baela disagreed with his decision, however, and she offered to travel to the Dragonmont to seek out the truth of the Grey Ghost's death. Robert forbade her to go, and Baela was no longer allowed to leave the castle. She attempted to leave the castle regardless that night, but was discovered and confined to her chambers.[3]

During the fall of Dragonstone to Rhaenyra's rival, King Aegon II Targaryen, during the second half of 130 AC, Baela slipped out of her bedroom window to evade Tom Tangletongue and sneaked to Moondancer in the stable. As Aegon flew down on Sunfyre to land in the yard, Baela and Moondancer flew up and met him in the sky. The two dragons fought in the air, eventually slamming into the ground. While Aegon jumped from Sunfyre's saddle twenty feet from the ground, Baela stayed on Moondancer's back as they reached the ground. She was burned and battered from the fighting, but still had the strength to undo her saddle chains and crawl away from Moondancer as the dragon coiled in her death throes. Ser Alfred Broome drew his sword to slay Baela, but his sword was wrenched from his hand by Ser Marston Waters. Tom then carried her to Maester Gerardys.[15] Afterwards, Baela was placed in the dungeons of Dragonstone.[16]

After Sunfyre died on the ninth day of the twelfth moon of 130 AC, a weeping Aegon II had Baela brought up from the dungeons so she could be put to death. When Baela's head was on the block, however, Aegon changed his mind after the maester informed him that Baela was the granddaughter of Corlys Velaryon, Lord of the Tides. Aegon then sent a raven to Driftmark, informing Corlys's bastard-born grandson, Alyn Velaryon, that he had to present himself on Dragonstone to swear fealty to Aegon within the fortnight. If Alyn would not do as he was bid, Baela would be executed.[16]

Once King's Landing was taken by the loyalists of Aegon II, Lord Corlys was freed from the dungeons and offered a place among Aegon's people. Corlys agreed, on several conditions, including Baela's immediate release. Corlys's terms were granted, and after he swore fealty to Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower in front of the Iron Throne, ravens were sent to Driftmark and Dragonstone, arriving just as Aegon was preparing to behead Baela once again. Baela traveled to King's Landing with Aegon and his court from Dragonstone on Mouse in the waning days of 130 AC. The girl was kept in chains, as Aegon's people feared she might attack the king if she was freed.[16]

Following the Battle of the Kingsroad, Aegon II threatened to Lord Corlys that, if Alyn were to fail him, or if one of the Braavosi ships of the enemy were to pass the Gullet, Baela would "lose some parts". That same day, Baela was spirited away by men of Lord Larys Strong, while King Aegon the Elder was poisoned.[16]

King's Landing

During the Hour of the Wolf, Cregan Stark, the new Hand of the King, condemned to death the men who had rescued Baela from confinement. Baela, however, brandished a sword in their defense, and the amused Lord of Winterfell agreed to spare their lives.[2] Baela and Rhaena were among the foremost of those pleading for a pardon for their grandfather, Lord Corlys Velaryon. They made their plea directly to Aegon, who went against the wishes of the Hand, Lord Cregan, and pardoned the Sea Snake. Mushroom, on the other hand, claimed that it was Lady Alysanne Blackwood who convinced Cregan to spare Corlys.[2]

After the ascension of her cousin and half-brother, as King Aegon III Targaryen, Baela and her sister Rhaena were thought to be the only living Targaryens aside from the king and his queen, Jaehaera Targaryen, as Prince Viserys Targaryen was presumed dead at the time. Baela and Rhaena became the darlings of King's Landing, as they frequently traveled through the city, while Aegon and Jaehaera remained in the Red Keep.[2] The twins served as hosts, and met with envoys and visiting lords.[10]

Baela often escaped her ladies to seek adventure in the streets of King's Landing. She drunkenly raced horses along the Street of the Sisters, swam across the Blackwater Rush at midnight, drank with the gold cloaks in their barracks, bet money and even clothes in the rat pits of Flea Bottom. She once vanished for three days and refused to say where she had gone. She also had a taste for companions who were considered to be unsuitable, which she would bring back to the Red Keep, and insist that they be granted a position in the castle. These included a juggler, a blacksmith's apprentice, a legless beggar, a street conjurer she believed was an actual sorcerer, a hedge knight's squire, twin girls from a brothel, even an entire troupe of mummers. Baela mocked many of the suitors who sought her hand in marriage. Neither her tutor, Septa Amarys, or the Red Keep's septon, Eustace, could curb her of her wild ways. Eustace informed Ser Tyland Lannister, the new Hand of the King, that Baela would dishonor House Targaryen and the king if she did not wed soon.[10]

Marriage

In 132 AC, following the sudden death of Baela's grandfather, Lord Corlys Velaryon, the council of regents began to discuss the matter of Aegon's heir. Baela and Rhaena were considered to be the only two claimants the realm would likely accept as the childless king's heirs. Despite the fact that Baela was the elder twin, the council considered Rhaena more suitable, as she was the less willful and more tractable of the two. Furthermore, Rhaena had her dragon, Morning, unlike Baela, whose Moondancer had died during the fall of Dragonstone. When Myles Mooton noted that Rhaena only had a hatchling, Lord Roland Westerling further pointed out that Baela had taken down King Aegon II, and that there were many who would be angered should she be crowned. Grand Maester Munkun attempted to end the debate, insisting that both Baela and Rhaena were female and thus disqualified altogether, as that the Dance of the Dragons had shown that they had to favor the male claimant per the ruling of the Great Council of 101 AC. However, the Hand Tyland Lannister pointed out that all the male claimants had been killed.[10]

The council eventually agreed that Baela should be wed to Thaddeus Rowan, Lord of Goldengrove, after considering and dismissing Lord Kermit Tully, Lord Benjicot Blackwood, Lord Lyonel Hightower, Lord Dalton Greyjoy, Prince Qyle Martell, and the self-proclaimed King of the Narrow Sea, Racallio Ryndoon. Rowan, twice a widower, already had seven sons, which counted in his favor; a son he would father on Baela would be the unquestioned heir to King Aegon. The regents also believed that Rowan would make the perfect consort to Queen Baela, should the throne pass to her, supporting her with strength and wisdom without seeking to dominate or usurp her. However, when Baela was informed of the match, she strongly disagreed, as Rowan was forty years her senior and very overweight. Possibly with intent to be provocative, she claimed to Ser Tyland that she had bedded two of Rowan's sons. The Hand subsequently had Baela confined to her rooms until the next meeting of the regents.[10]

Baela and her husband Alyn Velaryon, by riotarttherite ©

The next day, Baela escaped the castle and fled to Driftmark, where she confided in her cousin, Alyn Velaryon, the new Lord of the Tides. They were married in the sept at Dragonstone a fortnight later. Although some outraged regents asked Tyland to appeal to the High Septon for an annulment, the Hand instead reacted with resignation and prudence. He had it publicized that the marriage had been arranged by the king and court, as he believed Baela's defiance was the true scandal, not her choice of husband. In the eyes of the regents, however, Baela's wilful actions had confirmed that she should not be allowed to be Aegon's heir, and that Alyn was no suitable prince consort. They decided that Rhaena would have to do, and that she should marry quickly, as they feared that Baela would soon become pregnant. Rhaena was more amenable to marrying per the council's wishes, though she chose her own husband.[10]

After the Winter Fever of 133 AC killed Tyland and much of the king's small council, King Aegon III wanted Baela back at court with her husband Alyn Velaryon as his master of ships. However, this decision was reversed by Aegon's new Hand, Lord Unwin Peake, as the young king had not consulted with his regents. Later that year, Alyn Velaryon was sent to deal with Dalton Greyjoy, the rebellious Lord of the Iron Islands. Alyn Oakenfist departed from Hull on Lady Baela, a renamed Braavosi war galley he had captured in the Stepstones. When they said their goodbyes, Baela informed him she was pregnant. Alyn told her to name the child Corlys, after their grandfather, while Baela declared the child would be named Laena, after her mother.[1]

Return to Court

While in Oldtown during his voyage west, Lord Alyn Velaryon learned of Queen Jaehaera Targaryen's death and the announcement of King Aegon III Targaryen's betrothal to Myrielle Peake. The Oakenfist sent letters from the Hightower to Baela, who was pregnant at Driftmark.[17]

Baela and Rhaena arrived in King's Landing with Baela's young ward, Daenaera Velaryon, and Rhaena's husband, Ser Corwyn Corbray, at the ball remembered as the Maiden's Day Ball. When Ser Marston Waters of the Kingsguard tried to block the sisters from approaching Aegon on the Iron Throne, Baela slashed his face with her riding crop. At the ball's conclusion, Aegon announced he would marry Daenaera,[1] causing Lord Peake to dislike Baela even more.[17] The twins were cheered by the people of King's Landing when Aegon wed Daenaera on the last day of 133 AC.[1]

The reunion of King Aegon III and Prince Viserys Targaryen, attended by Baela and her family, by Naomimakesart ©

Dalton Greyjoy threatened to take Baela as a salt wife after dealing with Alyn, but the arrogant Red Kraken was killed at Faircastle before the Velaryon fleet reached the westerlands.[17] Baela gave birth to a daughter, Laena, while Alyn was returning from the Sunset Sea.[17] Baela accompanied the royal court with her newborn daughter to the harbor of King's Landing to welcome back her husband from his voyage, and the Oakenfist revealed that he had returned with Prince Viserys Targaryen, Aegon's long-lost younger brother.[17]

Driftmark

Baela returned with Laena and Lord Alyn to Driftmark.[11] After Ser Corwyn Corbray, the husband of her sister Rhaena, had been killed at Runestone, Baela traveled to Dragonstone, where Rhaena resided, to comfort her sister and make sure that Rhaena would not take her young dragon, Morning, to the Vale of Arryn to avenge Corwyn.[11]

Baela and Alyn's marriage was a stormy one,[10] and when Alyn set out to leave on his second voyage in 136 AC, Baela quarreled with him, as she had heard the rumors of her husband and his involvement with Aliandra Martell, the brazen Princess of Dorne. They reconciled before he left, and Alyn set out mid-136 AC, leaving Baela behind on Driftmark, pregnant with their second child.[11]

When the king's regents and Hand were making plans for a royal progress after Aegon III Targaryen's sixteenth nameday, Baela declared that she would come along on the progress, whether she was wanted or not.[11]

Quotes by Baela

Alyn: Name him Corlys, after my grandsire. One day he may sit the Iron Throne.
Baela: I will name her Laena, after my mother. One day she may ride a dragon.[1]

—Baela and Alyn Velaryon, about her first pregnancy

His Grace my brother can command me. You cannot.[1]

—Baela to Marston Waters

Quotes about Baela

She is overly fond of boys, and should be married soon, lest she surrender her virtue to someone unworthy of her.[3]

Manfryd: Baela flew a dragon, Rhaena has only the hatchling.
Roland: Baela's dragon brought down our late king. There are many in the realm who will not have forgotten that. Crown her and we will rip all the old wounds open once again.[10]

Family

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Corlys
Velaryon
 
Rhaenys
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Viserys I
 
Aemma
Arryn
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Laena
Velaryon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Daemon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rhaenyra
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Baela
 
Alyn
Velaryon
 
Garmund
Hightower
 
Rhaena
 
Corwyn
Corbray
 
 
 
 
 
Visenya
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Laena
Velaryon
 
Issue
 
 
 
Six daughters
 
 
Jaehaera
 
Aegon III
 
Daenaera
Velaryon
 
Viserys II
 
Larra
Rogare
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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House Targaryen.svg
 
 


References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Fire & Blood, Under the Regents - War and Peace and Cattle Shows.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Fire & Blood, Aftermath - The Hour of the Wolf.
  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Triumphant.
  4. The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Aegon III.
  5. The World of Ice & Fire, Appendix: Targaryen Lineage.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Fire & Blood, Heirs of the Dragon - A Question of Succession.
  7. See the Baela Targaryen calculation
  8. HBO.com: House of the Dragon Cast & Characters
  9. WarnerMedia Pressroom: House of the Dragon | Character Descriptions
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 10.9 Fire & Blood, Under the Regents - The Hooded Hand.
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Fire & Blood, The Lysene Spring and the End of Regency.
  12. The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Viserys I.
  13. 13.0 13.1 Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - The Blacks and the Greens.
  14. 14.0 14.1 Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - The Red Dragon and the Gold.
  15. Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Overthrown.
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - The Short, Sad Reign of Aegon II.
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 Fire & Blood, Under the Regents - The Voyage of Alyn Oakenfist.