Is Rhaenyra Bisexual or Straight in the ‘Fire & Blood’ Books?

‘House of the Dragon‘ fans have spent two seasons debating one of the show’s most talked about romantic wrinkles, and it all comes down to a single question that George R.R. Martin’s source material never quite answers outright. Rhaenyra Targaryen’s sexuality became a major topic of conversation after her kiss with Mysaria, sending readers scrambling back to the pages of ‘Fire & Blood’ to check what the book actually says.

The truth is messier than a simple yes or no. When it comes to Rhaenyra’s sexuality in the book, it is never explicitly explored beyond her time with Daemon. That has not stopped fans, critics, and journalists from digging into the subtext for years.

What ‘Fire & Blood’ Says About Rhaenyra and Laena Velaryon

The clearest hint of anything beyond heterosexuality in Rhaenyra’s book arc comes through her relationship with ‘Laena Velaryon,’ who was Daemon Targaryen’s first wife and Rhaenyra’s cousin. Fire & Blood states that teenage Rhaenyra became “fond and more than fond” of Laena Velaryon, which has often been interpreted as implying Rhaenyra is bisexual in the book. That single line has fueled countless theories and fan readings of the text.

Even so, the novel stops short of spelling things out. The only romances for Rhaenyra elaborated on in the novel are with Criston, Harwin, and Daemon. Readers looking for a definitive same-sex relationship on the page are left piecing together implication rather than confirmation.

Some entertainment outlets have gone further in analyzing the parallel Martin appears to be drawing. The whole Laenor-Rhaenyra-Laena dynamic is considered an intentional parallel on George R.R. Martin’s part to a similar arrangement described elsewhere in Fire & Blood, involving Rhaenyra’s great-great-aunt Rhaena Targaryen, who married a gay lord’s son so she could be near the sister she truly loved. That kind of narrative echo is part of why so many readers believe Rhaenyra’s bond with Laena was never purely platonic.

Not everyone agrees the evidence adds up to bisexuality, though. According to one analysis, Rhaenyra was shown close to other female characters including Alicent Hightower and Laena Velaryon, but her sexual preferences in the text remain straight. The disagreement among fans and writers alike shows just how open to interpretation this particular thread of ‘Fire & Blood’ really is.

The Mysaria Kiss and What It Means for the Show

Much of this renewed debate traces back to a specific moment in ‘House of the Dragon’ season two. It was not until Rhaenyra shared a kiss with Mysaria that her bisexuality was explicitly confirmed on screen. That single scene did more to define the character’s sexuality for television audiences than anything printed in the novel.

The context behind that kiss matters too. The White Worm strongly compliments Rhaenyra on her strength in the face of everything happening, and in response, Rhaenyra goes in for a hug, and what starts as only a hug becomes more as the two share a passionate kiss. It was a surprising turn for a character whose romantic entanglements up to that point had been exclusively with men.

Crucially, that moment has no basis in Martin’s text. In the original book, Fire & Blood, Rhaenyra is not explicitly gay, bisexual, or part of the LGBTQIA+ community, and she and Mysaria do not have any sort of romance either, with the duo maintaining the same advisership relationship they have in the show. The showrunners essentially invented this layer of Rhaenyra’s identity rather than adapting it directly from the page.

Reaction to the twist was mixed among longtime readers. From the very beginning of the show, the Targaryen Queen had only chosen men as her sexual partners, so when she kissed Mysaria in season two, fans were left perplexed and wondering whether Rhaenyra was bisexual in the books. That confusion is exactly what sent so many viewers searching for answers in Martin’s original novel.

Why the Laena Velaryon Relationship Never Made It to Screen

One of the more interesting quirks of this whole conversation is how little screen time Laena actually received compared to her role in the source material. House of the Dragon only included one episode featuring Laena Velaryon as an adult, and she never shared any screentime with Rhaenyra. That choice effectively erased the one relationship in the books most closely tied to questions about Rhaenyra’s sexuality.

Some critics believe the show missed an opportunity by cutting this dynamic so drastically. Laena and Rhaenyra’s friendship could have done more than amplify the divide between Alicent and Rhaenyra, and it could have helped explain Rhaenys’ betrayal by Daemon along with the complicated timing of Rhaenyra’s marriage so soon after Laena’s passing and Laenor’s faked death. Losing that relationship meant losing a layer of nuance that the books hint at more directly than anything involving Mysaria.

It is worth noting that ‘Laenor Velaryon,’ Rhaenyra’s husband, has his own confirmed queerness in the source material, which adds another dimension to how the family’s relationships were portrayed. Their marriage is widely understood as one of convenience meant to strengthen ties between the two houses, since Laenor is homosexual while Rhaenyra was romantically interested in the kingsguard Criston Cole. That backdrop makes the show’s decision to sideline Laena Velaryon feel even more like a missed thread.

The Fan Debate Over Rhaenyra’s Sexuality Continues

The disagreement over how to read Rhaenyra’s identity in ‘Fire & Blood’ has not slowed down, and if anything, the show’s choices have only intensified it. Writers covering the franchise continue to point to the ambiguity baked into Martin’s prose as the reason fans can’t seem to agree. Whether readers view the “fond and more than fond” line as confirmation or coincidence often depends on how they already feel about the character’s arc.

What does seem clear is that the show has taken creative liberties the books never explicitly supported, turning subtext into a full onscreen moment. That gap between page and screen is likely to remain a talking point as ‘House of the Dragon’ moves toward its next chapters. With Rhaenyra’s story far from finished, how do you think her sexuality should factor into the choices still ahead for her character on the show.