Mysaria is frequently cited in Fire & Blood as Daemon Targaryen‘s ex-love and Rhaenyra’s infamous whisperer. However, a closer examination of George R.R. Martin’s past reveals that she may have played a much bigger role in House Targaryen’s demise than some fans are aware.
What appears to be political advice on the surface can also be read as a calculated campaign of revenge that ultimately pushes Daemon toward his final, fatal battle.
Mysaria Never Got Over What Daemon Did To Her In ‘House Of The Dragon’
Daemon and Mysaria had a passionate but stormy relationship long before the bloodshed of the Dance of the Dragons. Mysaria fell pregnant with Daemon’s child, but King Viserys I sent her away for it. Daemon did as he was told, and Mysaria was swept off to a ship to Lys during a terrible storm.
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She made it to her destination but lost the baby in the process. For most people, such a tragedy would leave lifelong scars. For Mysaria, it may have become something even darker, a wound she never allowed to heal.
Eventually, Rhaenyra took over King’s Landing, and Mysaria became her master of whispers. She was called “Lady Misery” and was among the queen’s most trusted advisors, exposing enemies and influencing Rhaenyra’s actions behind her back.
Daemon Targaryen’s Tragic Fate Was Sealed by Mysaria’s Master Plan
As the conflict continued, Mysaria started to stir up Rhaenyra’s suspicions. She is said to have convinced the queen that Daemon and the young dragonrider Nettles were lovers and were conspiring to betray the queen. Even if the accusations were false, the impact was undeniable.
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Nettles is one of the most fascinating characters in George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood. A poor teenage dragonseed from Driftmark, she had no noble upbringing and possibly no confirmed Targaryen ancestry, yet she accomplished the impossible by taming the wild dragon Sheepstealer.
Unlike the book, HBO’s House of the Dragon does not introduce Nettles as a separate character. Instead, the series gives much of her storyline to Rhaena Targaryen, Daemon’s daughter. In the books, Rhaenyra commanded Nettles to be put to death. Daemon did not obey.
Rather, he told Nettles to run away, sacrificing his place at Rhaenyra’s side. There was no way back to the queen he had fought for, so Daemon made one final choice. He challenged Aemond Targaryen to a duel over the God’s Eye, a duel so famous that neither man ever returned alive.
One thing that one can’t help but wonder is whether this was exactly what Mysaria wanted. She caused a divide between Daemon and Rhaenyra, and eliminated the strongest warrior of Team Black without ever picking up a sword herself.
If revenge was her only motive, then Mysaria did something that no battlefield ever could. She turned Daemon’s greatest strength, his loyalty to those he cared about, into the very thing that led him to his death, making her one of the most quietly devastating players in the entire Dance of the Dragons.
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