*Warning: Spoilers ahead for House of the Dragon season three episode five and Fire & Blood* The latest episode of House of the Dragon, ‘Unbowed and Unbent’, gives us a rare glimpse at young Prince Joffrey Velaryon (Oscar Eskinazi). His own mother, Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) is avoiding him, but she has a good (yet heartbreaking) reason to do so. Season three episode five gives the characters room to breathe, showcasing the increasingly precarious position Daemon (Matt Smith) and Rhaenyra face in an attempt to strengthen their grip on King’s Landing. Amid growing unrest and the Greens dispersed, they now have a sociopathic adversary to deal with in the shape of Ormund (James Norton), who is hellbent on seeing Daeron (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) take the throne on behalf of the Hightowers. As D’Arcy previously explained, Rhaenyra is entering her paranoid era, and this bleeds into her relationship (or lack thereof) with her son. But first, who is Prince Joffrey Velaryon? Credit: HBO Prince Joffrey Velaryon is Rhaenyra Targaryen’s youngest son from her first marriage to Ser Laenor Velaryon, making him one of the last surviving members of the queen’s original family. Although he is legally recognised as Laenor’s son, it’s common knowledge among both viewers and characters in House of the Dragon that his biological father is Ser Harwin Strong – the same true parentage shared by his older brothers, Jacaerys and Lucerys. He is Rhaenyra’s third eldest child, as she went on to have three more children with her uncle and now-husband Daemon: Aegon the Younger, Viserys, and her stillborn daughter, Visenya. Now around six years old, Joffrey is portrayed by actor Oscar Eskinazi and has so far remained largely on the sidelines in the Dance of the Dragons. As a prince of House Targaryen and a member of the Blacks, Joffrey remains in the line of succession to the Iron Throne. He’s also bonded to the young dragon Tyraxes, although the pair have yet to take on a major role in the war. We’ve seen Joffrey several times throughout the series, first as a newborn during the later episodes of season one before Eskinazi took over the role in season two. Following the assassination attempt on Rhaenyra and the escalating conflict, he was sent away for his own safety alongside his younger half-brothers, but he returns in season three episode five. The sinister reason Rhaenyra won’t see him Credit: HBO The answer to this is simple: Rhaenyra refusing to see Joffrey isn’t because she doesn’t love him but because she fears losing him. The civil war has led to enormous loss for everyone involved, including Rhaenyra. First, Lucerys (Elliot Grihault) was killed in season one by Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) and his dragon Vhagar. Then, in yet another blow, Rhaenyra’s first born Jacaerys (Harry Collett) died in season three during the Battle of the Gullet. These deaths had and continue to have a profound impact on the queen. “The boys who clung to me. Who hid their little faces in my skirts. Dead. So that I can sit upon a throne of swords,” she said as she grieved Jace. As the next in line to the throne, Joffrey has a serious target on his back, and this is no doubt racing through Rhaenyra’s mind. It’s perhaps why, when she’s told Joffrey has returned from the Vale, she looks concerned rather than happy. She waits until Joffrey is asleep and peeks at him from behind the door, with the serving woman saying, “He tried to stay awake for you, your grace.” Judging by the books, she’s right to be worried… How does Joffrey die in the books? Credit: HBO In George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, Joffrey meets a tragic end during the Storming of the Dragonpit, one of the bloodiest events of the Dance of the Dragons. By this point, Rhaenyra’s rule over King’s Landing is collapsing as riots break out across the city. The young prince ignores orders to stay behind and attempts to ride Syrax, his mother’s dragon, to the chaos to help. However, as you will know, dragons only accept their own bonded rider, and Joffrey’s dragon is Tyraxes, not Syrax. Syrax takes flight with Joffrey clinging on, but quickly throws him from her back high above the city. The prince plummets to the streets below and dies from the fall at just 12 years old. As per the book, “Two hundred feet above Flea Bottom, Prince Joffrey slid from the dragon’s back and plunged to the earth… ‘Mother, forgive me,’ Joffrey supposedly said with his last breath, though men still argue whether he was speaking of his mother, the queen, or praying to the Mother Above.” Unsurprisingly, his death devastates Rhaenyra and marks yet another heartbreaking loss for the queen, who has already seen two of her sons die during the civil war. For all the latest film and TV updates and hot takes, like our Facebook page. Featured images credit: HBO Post navigation Next storyPrevious story
