What in the seven hells is going on in House of the Dragon season three’s sixth episode? Rhaenyra and Alicent continue to go round and round in circles as they both make very questionable choices. Daemon is on a rampage and at odds with his wife and Queen. There’s a death that isn’t as epic as we thought it would be. And Corlys ends the episode in quite the predicament at the end of the episode. But, one of the strangest parts of House of the Dragon season three happens in episode seven when Alyn of Hull shares an intimate kiss with Baela Targaryen, his niece.
In the episode, Alyn goes to see Baela and asks him to speak with Corlys. Earlier, Alyn and Corlys found themselves at odds over Rhaenyra. Alyn wants to use Velaryon forces to aid in her quest to stop the unrest in King’s Landing caused by Ormund, but Corlys feels as though he’s given enough to her cause. He does leave Alyn with a tidbit about Tyland Lannister’s plans for Rook’s Rest, but it is clear that they are at odds.
Alyn says that his father doesn’t see him, and Baela commiserates with that feeling. We can’t blame her because, well, Daemon sucks as a dad. She stands up and starts looking at him with a very particular look, which he notices and tells her that she should go to bed. But Baela continues to approach, saying that it must be exhausting to be so dutiful and do what someone else wants all the time. She asks him if he ever wants to do what he wants, and he does just that by kissing her. It feels very out of pocket considering there was little leading up to this to suggest romantic feelings.
Of course, the world of Westeros is a place where incest happens all the time. This is especially true for the Targaryens, who really like to keep their bloodline “pure” and power in their own hands. It is why we as viewers can somewhat understand why Rhaenyra married her own uncle. She did it to make her claim for the Iron Throne solid and for familial purposes. And, she’d long had a connection and affection for Daemon since childhood.
However, in House of the Dragon, there’s no actual reason why Baela and Alyn would link together romantically. He’s certainly not an uncle that she has any deep emotional connection to considering they met each other five minutes ago. He’s already acting as the Hand after Corlys lost his s**t on Rhaenyra and Baela is a trusted part of Team Black as Moondancer’s rider.
Neither of them are vying for a seat on anyone’s throne nor do they need to get married to escape some dire situation. Sure, Baela knows that she could end up being married off to at some point, but that is not a pressing issue considering all the chaos in the realm. Most importantly, it is messing up the cool family vibes of the #VelaryonGang, and we do not love that at all.
If they choose to pursue an actual relationship and marriage, this could be a way for Alyn to gain legitimacy. And then Baela will not have to marry a total stranger, we guess. But it all still feels like it is very left field and without solid reasoning at this point. We will have to see if Alyn simply chose what he wanted for a night, or if he will become Baela’s beau.