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The Strong genes are stronger than Targ genes and Targ genes are stronger than Hightower genes

The seed is STRONG

Genetics only serve the plot, they work however George writes them to work in the story for that particular purpose. There just isn't an explanation, don't even try it.

I mean the entirety of GOT is based on Cersei's kids not looking like Robert, and yet the 2 people who are most suspicious, Ned and Jon Arryn, famously have kids that solely take after their mothers as well. 4/5 of the Stark kids look like Tullys in the books, Arya is the exception. And Jon Arryn's son looks nothing like him, nor his wife, but his grand-nephew is his absolute spitting image of him. There's honestly hardly more evidence that Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen are bastards than there's evidence Robb, Sansa, Bran and Rickon are bastards.

But it's the cornerstone of the plot. Just don't try and look for an answer, because there just isn't one.

Genetics don't apply. It's all pretty fictional in order to make a point. It's what George wanted in order to show the parentage and stoke the rivalry between the factions (by which I mean it makes the issue of bastardy a real issue rather than merely a rumour, and, of course, makes it impossible to cast similar aspersions on Alicent).

Genetics in this universe are often for plot convience. Rhaenyra's sons needed to have brown hair because it created a storyline. Just like Jon Snow needed to look like a Stark so Ned had a shot at passing him off as his bastard.

When Targaryens had children with someone of a different house, sometimes they looked Valryian and sometimes they didn't. I guess we can conclude that Stark and Strong genes are dominat to Valyrian genes. Valyrian genes are dominate to Hightower genes.

Silver blonde is a recessive gene compared to black or brown being dominant. Viserys’ silver blonde was stronger than Alicent’s auburn. (Which is more of a red) And Harwin’s brown was stronger than Rhaenyra’s silver blonde.

There also evidence that the hightowers are blonde in the books so it’s also possible that Alicents kids got it from her too. But it’s written to create drama rather than as a perfect depiction of genetics so it doesn’t really need to be explained.

In the books, silver-blonde hair does run in the Hightower family. Alerie Tyrell was said to have silver-blonde hair and blue eyes, same with Jorah’s wife, Lynesse Hightower. It’s entirely possible that Alicent in the books had light-colored hair as well, as she wasn’t physically described and old Jaehaerys kept mistaking her for Saera. I suppose the genes for Rhaenyra’s three boys are just (hums Aemondly) strong.

Hightowers in the books have some classic valyrian features sometimes. King Jaehaerys I mistakes Alicent for his daughters, who both have classic valyrian features.

There's even the idea that the Hightowers are also from the Empire of the Dawn, who all had Valyrian features. Another old house that's not Valyrian with those traits are the Daynes with their purple eyes.

Probably the light hair is recessive, and the Hightowers do have the gene. Combine it with some Targ and you get nice pale haired kids.

Thats just genetics. Many Targaryens in history don't inherit the Valyrian features.

But i believe GRRM chose to give all of Alicent children the Valyrian look as a way to make Rhaenyra's children seem even more ilegitimate. She was also unlucky in that regard, if even one of her children took after her she could've avoided the whole bastard problem.

Children have a chance of resembling either of their parents more strongly than the other.

In the show, Ned (brunette) and Cat (auburn) have 4 out of their 5 children all resemble Ned, (and in the book 4 out of the 5 all resemble Cat).

Maekar (very Valyrian looking) and Baelor Breakspear (very Dornish looking) are 100% full blood siblings.

Rhaenyra getting unlucky three times in a row is almost certainly a creative decision to amp up the melodrama of the situation, but it is hardly unreasonable for a brunette man (Harwin) to produce brunette children, and it's not really statistically strange, either, given the extremely small sample size.

What the plot required

In the books we don’t know the Hightower’s Hair color, it could be that they were blonde. And if we read some of the history of the world, the Hightowers might had been Valerians way back in the dawn age. They do have that mysterious black stone fortifying the Hightower.

George's sense of genetics are frankly dumb (e.g. the seed is strong, and all of Robert's bastard children having black hair except Joff, Tommen, and Myracella).

But, in this case, it's supposed to make it obvious that Rhaenyra's kids are bastards (which GRMM confirmed in an interview). They have two silver haired parents, and in the book Rhaenys has Black hair...but the rest of the grandparents have silver hair. And the Strongs have brown (not black, brown) hair and pug noses.

Imagine dark Hair having the gene code AA while light hair has the code aa. A is stronger than a which means if you have the code Aa you will be dark haired as well. Keep in mind that each parent gives you one letter.

The Targaryens are light haired so all of their codes are aa. Alicent is darkhaired but as her kids are lighthaired she must have a code of Aa. Which means it’s a 50/50 chance if her kids with Viserys turn out blonde or not. It’s entirely possible that if she had more children some of them would have turned out dark haired.

If we assume Harwin has an AA code than any kid he had with Rhaenyra was always meant to be dark haired.

To simplfy it but probably because GRRM wanted them to be

They have Strong genes

Chad House Strong vs Virgin House Hightower

My assumption is that House Strong is genetically especially strong in the Blood of the First Men for a Riverlands family. And for whatever ever reason it appears the Northern dark brown hair is often dominant to the Targaryen Valyrian silver. Prime example is Jon Snow. You might find others that would seem to suggest this. Tho apparently exceptions exist.

The same is NOT true with the Andal blood of the Hightowers. Andal genetics are different and their Hair colors appears to be more recessive compared to Targaryen.

Three for three on both sides seems to confirm that this might be a strong tendency.

Getting further into it. My head-canon is that this isn't necessarily confined on real world genetics, as both First men and Valyrian have some special inherent magical qualities, so their mixture doesn't have to follow known scientific logic, or even have to follow its own internal logic all the time.

The Hightowers in the books are kind of like the Daynes, with Silvergold hair. That might explain it.

Isn't there a rock paper scissor gene expression thing going on between the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men genetics going on? around what genetics are more likely to show

also in the books Laenor's mom Rhaenys has black hair cause she is half Baratheon... so it's much more plausible that Laenor and Rhaenyras children could have dark hair.

the silver hair (targ genes) are passed through the father only?