'House of the Dragon' Episode 5: Who plays Daemon Targaryen's wife Rhea Royce? Here's why he hates her
Spoilers for 'House of the Dragon' Episode 5
Prince Daemon Targaryen has been one of the most extraordinary characters in ‘House of the Dragon’ and every week, fans eagerly wait to see how he’ll make his brother King Visery’s life more miserable. However, if there’s one person that Daemon hates the most, it’s undoubtedly his wife, Rhea Royce. From the first episode, the prince has been calling her a “bronze b***h” and already made it clear that he wants to be away from her.
In Episode 1, while sitting during the council meeting, Daemon got into an argument with Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) when the Hand of the King said that the prince hasn’t been with his wife for a while now. Prince Daemon responded by calling his wife “bronze bi**h”. It has been four episodes but we are still waiting to see Lady Royce’s first look in the ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel.
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So, who plays Lady Rhea Royce and why does Daemon Targaryen hate her?
Who plays Prince Daemon Targaryen’s wife and why does he hate her?
Regarding the character, Lady Rhea Royce is the Lady of the Runestone and leader of the House Royce during the reign of King Jaeherys and King Viserys Targaryen I. The marriage between Prince Daemon and Lady Rhea was arranged by Queen Alyssane Targaryen when she was still heir to Runestone. According to ‘Fire & Blood’, marriage was considered to be one of the most important steps in the history of both houses. Unfortunately, the marriage didn’t work because Daemon started to get bored in Vale. Soon, he started developing negative feelings for his wife. Royce also felt the same about her husband and she didn’t have any love or affection for Daemon.
In the recent episode, we saw how Daemon and Rhaenyra made out with each other and the prince told his brother that he wants to marry his niece. King Viserys got really angry and sent him back to Runestone.
In the first season of ‘House of the Dragon’, we will see Rachel Redford playing the role of Lady Rhea Royce. The actress made her feature film debut in 2014 with the movie ‘The Riot Club’. In the same year, she was seen playing a cameo in ‘Testament of Youth’. Three years later, Redford went on to make an appearance in the TV series 'Gap Year. However, in 2021, she garnered the biggest role of her career with the Netflix series 'Shadow and Bone’. She played the role of Fruszi in the fantasy series and received a lot of praise for her acting.
But it seems that Redford’s stint in ‘House of the Dragon’ might turn out to be a career-defining one.
Why does Daemon Targaryen hate Lady Rhea Royce?
After their marriage, Prince Daemon Targaryen started to feel that Lady of the Runestone and her land were boring. He would often mock her and used to call her “bronze bi**h” because of the ancient armor that House Royce used to wear.
The hate was mutual and Royce never liked her estranged husband.
'House of the Dragon' returns to HBO with a new episode every Sunday at 9 pm EST.