Warning, spoilers. It is recommended that you watch the eight available episodes of House of the Dragon before continuing with this article.
Two episodes from the end of the first season Dragon HouseThings are picking up speed for the Targaryen family. Civil war is closer than ever as tensions between the families of Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) and Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) rise again.
Even if episode 8 brought a moment of calm, the end of this chapter titled “Lord of the Tides” will strongly revive the fight between the queen and the princess. And all because of the last words spoken by King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) on death row. Essential words that also resonate with Jon Snow (Kit Harington).
Episode 8 of House of the Dragon reunites the entire royal family in King’s Landing as Corly Velarion aka Sea Serpent (Steve Toussaint) is in dire health after a battle at sea, his fleet crippled. Gathered at the castle, members of the Targaryen, Hightower, and Velarion families first shot each other’s paws to appoint Lamarck as Corlys’s heir, while standing for the welfare of King Viserys.
But that good understanding and that facade smile will quickly end with the revelation at the end of episode 8. On his deathbed, King Viserys confided in his wife Alicent Hightower, who he believed to be his daughter Rhaenyra.
He referred to the prophecy of his ancestor Aegon the Conqueror, who took over Westeros and allowed the Targaryens to rule the Seven Kingdoms. In addition to the thirst for power, it was a prophetic dream that caused the Aigon conqueror to do this. And this vision was revealed as early as the first episode of House of the Dragon:
“It will begin with a terrible winter that will come from the far north. Aegon saw the darkness that the winds carry. What lies in that darkness will destroy the world of the living. When that winter comes, all of Westeros must rise against it. .
In order for a man to survive, there must be a Targaryen on the Iron Throne. A king or queen can unite the kingdom against cold and darkness. This dream is a song of ice and fire. It is a secret passed down from king to heir after Aegon.
In the first episode of House of the Dragon, King Viserys shares this secret prophecy with his daughter Rhaenyra. So we understand that Aegon had a vision of the threat of the White Walkers hundreds of years before this cataclysmic event that we see in Game of Thrones. And Robert Baratheon’s rebellion and seizure of the Iron Throne broke the Targaryen chain of rule.
Before his death, King Viserys reveals this prophecy to Alicent in trifles and thinks of addressing Rhaenyra: “You wanted to know if I believed it to be true. Don’t you remember? Aegon. His dream…a song of ice and fire. True. What he saw in the North.”
Except that in his boring speech, the king adds a crucial element. This leads to “The Prince That Was Promised”: “To unite the kingdom against the cold and the dark. It’s you. You’re the one… You must do it.”. After that the king breathed his last and said “My Heaven” (probably addressed to his deceased first wife Aema) and passes out on his bed.
Only here, Alicent receives his final words on Viserys’ will for Aegon Targaryen, their first son, to succeed his father and sit on the Iron Throne to rule the realm and fight the threat from the North.
However, Rhaenyra also has a son named Aegon from her union with her uncle Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), and Viserys evoked Rhaenyra’s line in his final words, not Alicent’s. This misunderstanding will spark hostilities between Alicent and Rhaenyra, if the trailer for episode 9 is to be believed, a key chapter in the Game of Thrones seasons, which promises twists and turns.
This next tension will lead the Targaryen family to its loss in the famous civil war called “Dance of Dragons”. One of the final images of this episode is the Valyrian steel dagger, which Rhaenyra knows well because her father showed her the prophecy, but also because Alicent used it to hurt her. During their confrontation in episode 7.
No doubt this dagger will continue to be a key tool in the battle between Alicent and Rhaenyra. Recall that this dagger has a long history since it was used in an assassination attempt against Bran Stark in the first season of Game of Thrones and that it allowed Arya Stark to kill the Night King, the leader of the White Walkers, in the last season. .
The prince who was promised… or Jon Snow?
When Viserys refers to the Prophecy and the “prince that was promised”, it is thought to be one of his close descendants. And yet, this sentence leads to the main character of Game of Thrones, who is none other than Jon Snow, or almost.
Indeed, the survival of men and the fight against the White Walkers became possible thanks to the scum of Ned Stark. At the end of Game of Thrones, the young man will learn his true identity. He’s actually the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, Daenerys’ brother, and his name is… Aegon Targaryen, like his ancestor the Conqueror.
Rhaegar saw it in his son as well “The Prince That Was Promised, A Song of Ice and Fire”. When Viserys mentions this part of Aegon the Conqueror’s prophetic dream, he is actually mentioning the main character of Game of Thrones, of course unknowingly.
However, the exact identity of “The Prince Who Was Promised” was always unclear in the series. The prophecy wants it to be Jon Snow, alias Aegon, but the correct translation leads to “Prince or Princess”. Theories want Daenerys Targaryen, a descendant of Rhaenyra, or Arya Stark to be the princess that was promised.
Anyway, the song is explained in House of the Dragon, and it was confirmed by George Martin, author of the literary saga, as confirmed by co-showrunner Ryan Condall. polygon :
“The origin of this prophecy comes from. He told us at the beginning of the process, he just casually mentioned that Aegon the Conqueror was a dreamer who saw white walkers coming over the wall and washing the land with cold and cold. Dark. So with his permission, of course we We incorporated it into the story because it was a great way to resonate with the original series.”
Podcast – House of the Dragon: Incest, Marriage, and Casting… We rate the Game of Thrones spin-off mid-season:
Dragon House is available on OCS.
Source: allocine
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
