Rhaenyra and Mysaria’s relationship started as a moment nobody planned. A comforting hug between two characters turned into a kiss neither the script nor George R.R. Martin’s source material called for, and two seasons later, House of the Dragon brought them back together for something even more direct.
Table of Contents
- How the relationship actually began
- Why it wasn’t in Fire & Blood at all
- What happened when season 3 revisited it
- What the actors have said about playing it
- Frequently asked questions about Rhaenyra and Mysaria’s relationship
How the relationship actually began
Rhaenyra and Mysaria’s relationship first turned romantic in House of the Dragon season 2, episode 6, according to JustWatch’s breakdown of the storyline. While staying at Dragonstone, Mysaria, played by Sonoya Mizuno, opens up to Rhaenyra about her own past trauma. What starts as a comforting embrace from Rhaenyra escalates into a kiss between the two women — a moment that immediately went viral once the episode aired.
That reaction wasn’t just about the kiss itself, but about how unexpected it was within the show’s existing dynamic between the two characters. Mysaria had spent the earlier seasons as Daemon Targaryen’s spy and occasional lover, and her relationship with Rhaenyra had largely been framed around political usefulness rather than any personal intimacy, making the sudden romantic turn a genuine surprise for viewers.
Why it wasn’t in Fire & Blood at all
Rhaenyra and Mysaria’s relationship has no basis in George R.R. Martin’s “Fire & Blood,” the source material House of the Dragon is adapting. According to JustWatch, the kiss “didn’t happen in George R.R. Martin’s source material” at all — it was an addition made entirely for the show, reflecting the kind of creative liberty the writers’ room has taken more broadly given how sparse and historically framed Fire & Blood is as a text.
What makes the scene even more unusual is how it came to exist in the first place. JustWatch reports that Mizuno and Emma D’Arcy, who plays Rhaenyra, improvised the moment together because “it felt right in the moment” during filming — meaning one of the show’s more talked-about romantic beats originated from the actors themselves rather than from a scripted directive.
“Mizuno and D’Arcy improvised the scene because it felt right in the moment,” JustWatch reported of the kiss’s origins.
What happened when season 3 revisited it
Rhaenyra and Mysaria’s relationship resurfaced in House of the Dragon season 3, episode 7, after the two characters had gone the better part of a season without acknowledging what happened between them. JustWatch describes the follow-up scene as “even more heated” than their original kiss, marking a clear escalation in the relationship’s physical and emotional intensity.
That escalation came at a specific narrative moment for Rhaenyra. With Alicent Hightower and Daemon Targaryen both effectively gone from her life by that point in the season, Mysaria became one of the few remaining people Rhaenyra could turn to for genuine companionship — a dynamic Emma D’Arcy has spoken about directly in press interviews surrounding the season, describing Rhaenyra as someone who “fundamentally can’t survive as a sole agent” and needs to pair with someone, even as her usual tools for navigating relationships built around a male-dominated political world prove less useful against another woman.
What the actors have said about playing it
Rhaenyra and Mysaria’s relationship has given Emma D’Arcy space to discuss Rhaenyra’s character more broadly in interviews tied to the season. Speaking with Gold Derby during season 3 production, D’Arcy called Mizuno “totally incredible” and described something genuinely unusual about the dynamic between the two characters: “The friendship and companionship of another woman is unusual. All of Rhaenyra’s tools are designed to enable her to navigate and manipulate a male-dominated world. Those carefully honed skills all suddenly feel like dumb instruments in the face of another woman.”
Whether Rhaenyra should be understood as bisexual specifically, rather than simply drawn to Mysaria in this one particular relationship, remains something the show has deliberately left open. JustWatch’s own analysis noted the label is “tricky because she hasn’t openly talked about her sexuality” on screen, treating the relationship as meaningful and real without reducing it to a single, explicitly stated identity — a choice consistent with how the show has generally avoided didactic labeling of its characters’ inner lives in favor of simply showing what they do and who they choose.
For more on the actor behind this storyline and her broader approach to the role, Read more: Emma D’Arcy’s Rumored Partner Thomas May Bailey covers what’s known about D’Arcy’s own private life. And for how the season that featured this storyline performed once it concluded, Read more: House of the Dragon’s Streaming Chart Exit breaks down its rapid drop from HBO Max’s charts.
JustWatch’s full breakdown of the Mysaria storyline goes deeper into how the relationship developed across both seasons, and it’s worth reading in full here.
House of the Dragon Season 3 | Official Final Trailer | HBO Max
Frequently asked questions about Rhaenyra and Mysaria’s relationship
When did Rhaenyra and Mysaria’s relationship become romantic in House of the Dragon? Their relationship first turned romantic in season 2, episode 6, when a comforting hug between the two characters escalated into a kiss.
Was Rhaenyra and Mysaria’s kiss in George R.R. Martin’s books? No. The kiss does not appear in Fire & Blood and was created specifically for the show, reportedly improvised by actors Emma D’Arcy and Sonoya Mizuno during filming.
Does the Rhaenyra and Mysaria relationship continue in season 3? Yes. The two characters have another, more intense romantic encounter in season 3, episode 7, after not acknowledging their earlier kiss for roughly a season.
Is Rhaenyra confirmed to be bisexual in House of the Dragon? The show has not explicitly labeled Rhaenyra’s sexuality on screen, leaving her relationship with Mysaria open to interpretation rather than stating a definitive identity.
Who plays Mysaria in House of the Dragon? Mysaria is played by actress Sonoya Mizuno, who has appeared in the role since the show’s first season.
