Who is Prince Joffrey in ‘House of the Dragon’?

House of the Dragon Season 3 Episode 5 “Unbowed and Unbent” on HBO sees young Prince Joffrey Velaryon (Oscar Eskinazi) — Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy)’s oldest surviving son and new heir — arriving in King’s Landing. The only problem? His mother doesn’t seem to want to see him.

**Spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 3 Episode 5 “Unbowed and Unbent,” now streaming on HBO Max**

Rhaenrya puts off reuniting with her son until it’s so late that the poor kid has fallen asleep. We hear from his nurse that he tried his hardest to stay up for his busy mother, but to no avail. Rhaenyra, for her part, looks down right scared of her son.

So what’s the deal with Prince Joffrey? Why would Rhaenyra, who is usually depicted as a good and doting mother, do everything possible to avoid her boy? Well, it all has to do with the the grief Rhaenyra has been holding and the paranoia she has about the legitimacy of her rule…

Who is Prince Joffrey in House of the Dragon?

Prince Joffrey Velaryon is the third son that Rhaenyra Targaryen had when she was still married to Laenor Velaryon (John Macmillan), but having a not-so-secret affair with Ser Harwin “Breakbones” Strong (Ryan Corr). While Viserys (Paddy Considine) considered all of Rhaenyra’s fair-skinned, dark-haired, and dark-eyed sons to be legitimate, many in the court did not. Alicent (Olivia Cooke) considered it proof that Rhaenyra should not be Viserys’s heir and Daemon (Matt Smith) infamously killed Vaemond Velaryon (Wil Johnson) for calling the boys bastards in front of the entire court.

After her second-born son Lucerys (Elliot Grihault) was killed by Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) and Vhagar in the Season 1 finale, Rhaenyra sent her younger sons — Joffrey, Aegon, and Viserys — away with their young dragons for safety concerns. Note: Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) was supposed to be with them, but ran away to claim Sheepstealer. When Jacaerys (Harry Collett) died in the Battle of the Gullet, Joffrey became next in line after Rhaenyra. Hence why she sent for the new Prince of Dragonstone to come to her at King’s Landing.

So why doesn’t Rhaenyra want to see him? Well, first of all she has not processed the grief of Jacaerys’s death. Joffrey serves as a brutal reminder of his dead brothers. More importantly, however, Rhaenyra’s legitimacy is being contested in the streets because she’s known as the “Queen of Bastards.” Aegon and Viserys are fully legitimate Targaryens, since Daemon is their father. Joffrey is the last of Rhaenyra’s “Strong” sons.

Joffrey is a living reminder of Rhaenyra’s deepest grief, losing her sons, and her biggest insecurity, her own legitimacy.

Prince Joffrey is played by Oscar Eskinazi in House of the Dragon.

What Happens to Prince Joffrey in House of the Dragon? Joffrey’s Fate in George R.R. Martin’s Books:

We don’t yet know what will happen to Prince Joffrey in House of the Dragon, but the fact that showrunner Ryan Condal has brought the boy to King’s Landing should be concerning.

In George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, Rhaenyra struggles to gain the respect of the smallfolk in King’s Landing. Eventually, there is a massive uprising against Rhaenyra’s rule. During the chaos, Joffrey begs to be allowed to mount his small dragon Tyraxes so he can fight for his mother, like his brothers. Rhaenyra refuses because she doesn’t want to lose yet another son in battle.

Joffrey doesn’t fly Tyraxes into battle. Instead, he mounts his mother’s much larger dragon, Syrax. Now, if we’ve learned one thing about dragons in House of the Dragon, it’s that they are very particular about who gets to ride them. The bond between a dragon and its rider is sacrosanct. So, Syrax is not happy about Joffrey riding her and twists in the air to shake him off. She succeeds and Joffrey falls to the ground, breaking his back. There’s a legend that a candle-maker’s daughter comforted him as he died, but we’re also told that his corpse is literally ripped apart by the mob.

It’s unclear if House of the Dragon will follow this storyline, but given the mood in King’s Landing, we should expect some kind of uprising against Rhaenyra and some sort of tragic event to befall Joffrey.