The youngest male Velaryon is growing up in a more violent Westeros. Here’s everything we know about Joffrey Velaryon in House of the Dragon.
This article contains spoilers for season one of HBO’s House of the Dragon and George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood novel.Joffrey Velaryon is the youngest male heir of his family, and he finds himself growing up in an era of dissension and civil conflict among the houses of Westeros. His family and kingdom-to-inherit are at the precipice of open war among themselves, and his mother and siblings have become targets by their former allies and family members.
With his family divided, Joffrey finds himself as the youngest of the dragon-bound men in the seven kingdoms and is likely to face a man’s war before he himself reaches adulthood. Here’s what we currently know about the young heir, Joffrey Velaryon.
Joffrey Velaryon In Season One
Joffrey first appears in episode 6, being held in the arms of his mother, Rhaenyra Targaryen, as she carries him to an emergency summons from Queen Alicent Hightower mere moments after his birth. He is observed and complimented by his grandfather, King Viserys, stating that he’ll grow to make a fearsome knight in his adulthood. Later, his older siblings Lucerys and Jacaerys place Joffrey’s reserved dragon egg in his cradle so the two may begin bonding to one another immediately. Like his two older brothers, Joffrey is a bastard child, his blood father being Ser Harwin Strong and not the husband of Joffrey’s mother, Laenor Velaryon. Years later, when their status as suspected bastards is stated openly to their families during a heated argument following a fight between Lucerys and Aemond Targaryen, the divisions between sections of the family is deepen.
With the death of King Viserys and his mother installing Aegon II as his successor instead of Viserys’ daughter Rhaenyra, Joffrey and his family were forced out of Kings Landing and into a brewing civil war between the houses that remained loyal to his mother’s right to succession versus the houses that have pledged loyalty to Aegon II and his side of the family. With the death of his second-eldest brother Lucerys at the hands of Aemond Targaryan, Joffrey is now the second male heir to the throne and third in line behind his mother and oldest brother, Jacaerys.
What Is Joffrey Velaryon’s Fate In The Novel?
As the second male heir to the throne, alongside his status as a bastard child who’s familial claim to power is being openly contested, he has no guarantee that the throne will fall to him anytime soon. While his status as a young boy may shield him from some conflict, his bloodline render him a target of assassination by those seeking to end his family’s claim to the Iron Throne of Westeros.
In the Fire & Blood novel, Joffrey is consumed by vengeance and a desire to ride a dragon into battle after the deaths of both his elder brothers, taking the dragon Syrax, who is unfamiliar with him, in an on-the-spot rebuttal to his mother’s demands that he stay away from the fighting. He took Syrax without a whip or saddle and flew off, the dragon actively fighting his control the entire time. Syrax eventually crashes Joffrey two hundred feet down through the roof of a nearby building, the fall breaking his back and his own sword being driven through his stomach.
A candlemaker’s daughter comforted him as he died while a mob descended on his corpse to loot the prince. A detachment of guards had to retrieve his stolen clothing and severed body parts from the ravenous crowd, and several guards were killed in the process. His mother had lost her third and youngest son, while Aegon the Younger assumed his place as heir to the throne behind Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen.
It remains to be seen if this fate will befall HBO’s live-action adaptation of the character, as filming for Season 2 of House of the Dragon is set to begin in early 2023. Fans will have to wait until late 2023 or early 2024 to see what fate befalls Joffrey Velaryon and his family in the show.
