The dragons of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire are as curious as they are magical. No one really knows how those mystical, highly intelligent creatures came into the world. Each one also has its own unique personality, yet also shares a special bond with its rider. Some believe Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon‘s dragons can change their gender whenever they like. It’s impossible to even identify a she-dragon until it lays eggs. And no one understands exactly why those beasts called “fire made flesh” allow certain people to claim them and not others. But while episode six of House of the Dragon‘s second season explored established dragon lore with Ser Steffon Darklyn’s fatal attempt to become a dragonlord, the series also created its own with the Vale’s wild dragon and Seasmoke’s search for Addam of Hull.

The Dragon Seasmoke Rejects Ser Steffon Darklyn in House of the Dragon

The one (almost*) unquestioned rule for dragonriders in the lore of George R.R. Martin’s fantasy world is that they must have at least some blood of Old Valyria. The dragonlords of the former Valyrian Freehold were the only dragonlords in the world. In Westeros, that means someone must have ancestry with either House Targaryen or House Velaryon (even though Velaryons were not dragonriders).

(*One character’s uncertain birth is the only possible example of this not being true. We’ll get to that in the next section.)

Prince Jacaerys thought that rule might have simply been ahistorical propaganda meant to “gild” Valyrians. His mother still took the matter of blood seriously enough to search for forgotten relatives in old scrolls. On House of the Dragon, Rhaenyra believes even someone with “thin” Valyrian blood was more likely to successfully claim a dragon than someone without any. Especially since unquestioned family members can’t always become dragonriders, like Daemon’s daughter Rhaena. Aemond couldn’t successfully bond with a dragon either in House of the Dragon‘s world until he claimed the biggest one in the world, Vhagar.

On House of the Dragon‘s sixth episode, Rhaenyra asked the Lord Commander of her Queensguard, Ser Steffon, if he’d be willing to try to claim a dragon because his grandmother’s grandmother was a Targaryen. She reminded him to try and claim a dragon was to risk death itself, but he was honored by her even asking. Like many in Westeros, he views dragons as gods.

Seasmoke did not care about Ser Steffon’s thin Valyrian blood, commitment to Rhaenyra, or his noble heart, though. The dragon still refused to obey the Lord Commander on House of the Dragon. Worse, he bathed Ser Steffon in dragonflame for even trying.

That outcome was not a surprise for any House of the Dragon viewer who knows about dragon lore in this fantasy realm. That was not true for the other two big dragon moments during this episode of House of the Dragon, though.

Rhaena Learns the Vale Has a Wild Dragon

The last thing young Princess Rhaena expected to find in the Vale was a wild dragon, because dragons don’t live in places like the Vale on House of the Dragon. They stay close to seats of House Velaryon, either in King’s Landing or on Dragonstone. Before they came to Westeros, they only lived in the Valyrian Freehold, leaving for any extended periods of time solely when taken someplace by their dragonrider.

Having a dragon burning sheep far away from dragons’ established homes means that House of the Dragon breaks established canon and dragon lore from Fire & Blood and A Song of Ice and Fire. George R.R. Martin himself confirmed that weeks before episode six debuted. From his “Not a Blog” (emphasis our own):

My dragons are creatures of the sky. They fly, and can cross mountains and plains, cover hundreds of miles… but they don’t, unless their riders take them there. They are not nomadic. During the heyday of Valyria there were forty dragon-riding families with hundreds of dragons amongst them… but (aside from our Targaryens) all of them stayed close to the Freehold and the Lands of the Long Summer. From time to time a dragonrider might visit Volantis or another Valyrian colony, even settle there for a few years, but never permanently. Think about it. If dragons were nomadic, they would have overrun half of Essos, and the Doom would only have killed a few of them. Similarly, the dragons of Westeros seldom wander far from Dragonstone. Elsewise, after three hundred years, we would have dragons all over the realm and every noble house would have a few. 

Why would House of the Dragon violate one Martin’s few, hard-and-fast dragon lore rules? To answer that, we must discuss something from Fire & Blood. We’ll note that this discussion will provide enough context clues to spoil something that now seems inevitable on House of the Dragon. It’s up to you if you want to read it. If you don’t, skip past the remaining text in this section (which is between two images) until you reach the next sub-headline, which explores another show-specific piece of dragon lore.

By moving this specific, sheep-killing dragon from Dragonstone to the Vale, the show appears to be cutting out a major, beloved character from Fire & Blood named Nettles. She is the person whose uncertain birth/bloodline we referenced earlier. House of the Dragon seems to be giving Nettle’s storyline to Rhaena.

Obviously since we mentioned Nettles’ uncertain birth/blood line, she does go on to claim a dragon in Fire & Blood. And since we’re talking about her in this section about Rhaena and the Vale, you can guess which dragon she bonds with.

Does that guarantee Rhaena will now claim that wild dragon on the show instead? It’s a possibility the series is definitely raising, but it’s not a guarantee. Not when House of the Dragon is making such drastic changes in the first place. But we still think it’s likely on a series that also made another significant change to an unlikely dragonrider’s story in this same episode.

Seasmoke Claims a Dragonrider on House of the Dragon (Possibly While His First Still Lives)

Addam of Hull is the bastard son of Lord Corlys Velaryon and, therefore, strong with Old Valyrian blood. It doesn’t go against known dragon lore, and thus is not completely shocking, that a “dragonseed” like Addam could claim a dragon, which is clearly what happened at the end of House of the Dragon episode six. What is unprecedented is a) how the two bonded and b) the fact they bonded at all.

There are two ways humans typically bond with dragons in A Song of Ice and Fire. The first is babies of House Targaryen have dragon eggs put in their crib with them. If healthy dragons hatch from those eggs they form that special dragon/dragonrider connection. The second way is that a person approaches a living dragon who then either accepts them or not. No one knows how or why this happens, only that there’s some kind of mystical element to their connection.

Rhaena, daughter of Daemon Targaryen and Laena Velaryon, has tried to claim a dragon many times on House of the Dragon and only has burn scars to show for it. Ser Steffon Darklyn tried once, and he paid with his life for his efforts. Yet somehow, Addam of Hull didn’t even have to try to become a dragonlord. In a complete role reversal, Seasmoke claimed his human. The “lonely” dragon hunted Addam down before the two took to the sky on House of the Dragon.

That was unusual enough, but what what makes this bond entirely new dragon lore for House of the Dragon is that Seasmoke seemingly already has a dragonrider. His first mount, Laenor Velaryon, isn’t actually dead on House of the Dragon like he is in Fire & Blood. The show changed his story so that he conspired with his wife Rhaenyra to fake his death so he could live freely in Essos. But dragons only accept one dragonrider at a time. They will not accept another so long as theirs lives.

Unless we learn Laenor died in Essos offscreen without anyone on Dragonstone knowing, we know have House of the Dragon-specific dragon lore. (Which still has its own internal logic, since Seasmoke sought out the half-brother of his missing rider.)

How you feel about that is as personal as a dragon/rider bond, but what it actually means is not. Whether or not you’re familiar with both Fire & Blood and George R.R. Martin’s dragon mythology, none of us know what else could happen in the Dance of the Dragons.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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Daemon Targaryen claimed Harrenhal on House of the Dragon, but he hasn’t found no peace in that haunted castle. What he has found instead is a mysterious woman named Alys Rivers. Who is this strange figure and fan-favorite from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood? Is this bastard of the Riverlands nothing more than a wise woman who minds her surroundings? Or is she something much more magical and sinister? Here’s everything we’ve learned about Alys Rivers on House of the Dragon.

Who Plays Alys Rivers on House of the Dragon?

Gayle Rankin (GLOW, Perry Mason) plays Alys Rivers on House of the Dragon. She joined the prequel series during season two. While she is known to readers of Martin’s Fire & Blood, the in-world history reveals less about her than many other figures in the book.

Alys Rivers Arrives With an Ominous Warning (Season 2, Episode 3)

Alys Rivers made her debut (without being named on-screen) in House of the Dragon season two’s third episode. She first appeared in Harrenhal’s dining hall when Daemon Targaryen claimed the castle for Queen Rhaenyra (and himself). Alys was the only person not to kneel to his “Grace.”

She truly made her presence felt later in the episode when she showed up during Daemon’s nightmare-turned-waking vision. After dreaming about his wife (who appeared as a young woman) sewing the head of little Prince Jaehaerys onto his body, Daemon suddenly found himself outside. He was standing near a dying weirwood tree overlooking the sacred Gods Eye lake. A confused Daemons then saw Alys Rivers appear below him. She only said one thing, but it made a major impact. She ominously told him, “You will die in this place,” before walking away.

Alys Rivers: Maester, Owl, or Witch? (Season 2, Episode 4)

Another nightmare once again led Daemon to walk directly to Alys Rivers during House of the Dragon season two’s fourth episode. He found her working late at night in what appeared to be a kitchen.

She explained she was the castle’s de facto maester after the last one fled in the night. Like Daemon, the measter found no peace at Harrenhal. Alys said the castle is responsible for Daemon’s nightmares because Harrenhal is haunted and has been since its first stone was laid. The King who built the massive structure, Harren the Black, felled a grove of sacred weirwood trees for the land. He then used the wood of the heart trees to make the castle’s furniture. According to Alys, the spirits who lived in those ancient trees still roam the castle. She said you can hear them whispering in the night.

When Daemon asked who she really is, Alys jokingly said she’s really an owl trapped in a human woman’s body. (At least it sounded like a joke. In a world with wargs that isn’t totally unbelievable.) Later Daemon accused her of being a witch because she seemingly knew things she shouldn’t. That included how she seemed to know everything Daemon has left unsaid about how he feels over his wife’s ascension. Alys didn’t claim witchcraft or other magical powers for her insights. She cited the many clues he’s unhappy being below Rhaenyra, including how he arrived alone but had yet to send a raven back saying he claimed the castle.

The alluring, wise, mysterious Alys then easily got Daemon to drink an unknown potion just days after he feared someone poisoning him. It was as though she had placed him in a trance and he couldn’t refuse her. Whatever she gave him was powerful. It knocked him out completely. Daemon has lost a huge chunk of time from the moment he took her potion. He awoke the next day, in the middle of a meeting, with no idea how he’d gotten there.

Is House of the Dragon‘s Alys Rivers Really a Witch?

Is Alys Rivers a witch? Is she the one actually causing Daemon’s nightmares? Or is she an owl? Could she possess amazing greenseer abilities like Bran on Game of Thrones? Is that how she knows so much about the past, present, and future? And, maybe most importantly, was she predicting his death at Harrenhal as a prophecy or simply warning him what will happen if he stays there because every Lord of the castle has died before?

There’s still much to learn about Alys Rivers, and we can’t rule out any possibility about who, or what, she might be. The mysterious bastard of the Riverlands could just be a smart woman with a keen eye. Or she could be so much more.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. He’s still mad we didn’t get GLOW’s final season. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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House of the Dragon has finally shown why Westeros remembers the first Targaryen civil war as “The Dance of the Dragons.” Season two’s fourth episode brought to life the infamous moment from Fire & Blood when those creatures first fought one another high above the Realm. The Battle at Rook’s Rest was a brutal, terrifying, impressive sequence that was also a mostly faithful adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s in-world history. But the prequel series did make some meaningful changes, and they will have long term ramifications on House of the Dragon.

The Similarities Between House of the Dragon and Fire & Blood‘s “Battle at Rook’s Rest”

House of the Dragon followed the same general story about the “Battle at Rook’s Rest” as told in Fire & Blood. It began when new Hand of the King Criston Cole left behind both King’s Landing and the letter-writing campaign of his predecessor, Otto Hightower, to be Aegon’s “steel fist.”

Cole began by moving his small force swiftly through the Crownlands, the region surrounding King’s Landing, which is also close to Dragonstone. The Lord Commander easily took both the castles Rosby and Stokeworth when their namesake lords swore fealty to King Aegon. Those houses’ forces then joined Cole’s army on the march to Duskendale. There, the “Kingmaker” beheaded Lord Darklyn, who refused to bend the knee. Those at Duskendale who did also joined the new Hand of the King’s army.

Rather than turn his growing army towards the vital Harrenhal, Cole instead marched towards Rook’s Rest, seat of House Staunton. Lord Staunton, a member of Rhaenyra Targaryen’s small council, tried to stay safe inside his castle’s walls. But the attack on Rook’s Rest was nothing more than a ploy. Cole’s real plan was to draw one of Rhaenyra’s dragons into battle. It worked. Princess Rhaenys and her experienced dragon, Meleys, came to the rescue. When she arrived, she bathed many of Cole’s soldiers in dragonflame.

Rhaenys wasn’t alone in the sky for long. She soon found herself facing two dragons, Aegon’s Sunfyre and Aemond’s Vhagar. The brave Rhaenys refused to flee and led Meleys into a fight for their lives. When the civil war’s first dragon dance ended, both Rhaenys and Meleys lay dead, having fallen when Vhagar bit Meleys’ neck.

It was not a total victory for the Greens. Aegon and Sunfyre also lay greatly wounded on the ground, with both rider and dragon burned and battered.

What House of the Dragon Changed from Fire & Blood‘s “Battle at Rook’s Rest”

While not completely inaccurate, Fire & Blood‘s account of the Dance of the Dragon is notoriously unreliable. (Sometimes, in ways we can’t even know that are unknowable or obvious.) That gives House of the Dragon the freedom to tell its own version of the story and fill in gaps without technically “changing” anything. However, the HBO series still made some choices that are clearly different from the history presented in Fire & Blood.

House of the Dragon‘s Aegon Almost Screws Up the Plan

One of House of the Dragon‘s biggest changes at Rook’s Rest was Aegon’s role in the battle. The King was not part of Cole’s plan like in Fire & Blood. On the show, the rash, impetuous King, determined to prove his worth to his family and small council, flew off to the invasion alone atop Sunfyre. On House of the Dragon, he forced Cole to call on Aemond and Vhagar much sooner.

This made Cole’s plan on the show less impressive. Having two dragons in hiding is smarter than only one, especially when the Greens had no way of knowing how many dragons Rhaenyra would send. It also changes what we know about Aegon, making him even more of a fool than his book counterpart. But neither of those mean this change was bad or indefensible. It completely fit with the story House of the Dragon is telling about Aegon. He felt weak and unimportant, as his Hand and brother plotted without him. They also had already refused to let him in on their secret plans, as well, lest he interfere needlessly. This scene showed why they were right.

House of the Dragon‘s Aemond Is Not Loyal To His Family

Fire & Blood presents the stern, humorless Aemond as ambitious but also fiercely loyal to his family. Book Aemond would seemingly never do anything to harm any member of the Greens, no matter how much he wanted to rule. It’s arguably his best trait and adds immense depth to his character in Fire & Blood.

House of the Dragon‘s “Battle at Rook’s Rest” changed what we thought we knew about Aemond. At best, he was completely reckless with his brother’s life and, at worst, actively tried to kill Aegon. Rather than come to his King’s rescue when Meleys had Sunfyre in her grasp, Aemond had Vhagar shoot fire without worry, endangering Aegon’s life. (The nature of Aegon’s role in this sequence also changed that Fire & Blood says all three dragons fought at once.)

If there was any doubt Aemond wasn’t worried about saving his brother’s life, it looked as though Aemond was about to finish off either Aegon, Sunfyre, or both on the ground before Cole showed up an stopped him.

Aemond hates his brother (with good reason), and that hatred, combined with his ambition, seemed to push Aemond to a place we didn’t know he could go. He’s still a fascinating, dynamic character, just a different version than Fire & Blood‘s.

Gwayne Hightower Fights at the “Battle at Rook’s Rest”

House of the Dragon has already greatly changed Ser Gwayne Hightower’s story from Fire & Blood. Alicent’s brother was not at Rook’s Rest that faithful day because he was serving as second-in-command of King’s Landings City Watch at the time. His father installed him in that role at the start of the Dance because the Greens feared the City Watch was still loyal to its former Commander, Daemon Targaryen. Gwayne had also already lived at King’s Landing for many years with his family and new Criston Cole for a long time.

A Quick Attack on Rook’s Rest Instead of a Siege

Fire & Blood tells us that Criston Cole surrounded Rook’s Rest and burned its nearby fields. Lord Staunton then sent ravens to Dragonstone begging for help. Nine days later Rhaenys arrived alone.

House of the Dragon changed this by having Cole attack the castle immediately. Rhaenyra instead preemptively sent Rhaenys atop Meleys to help her sworn bannerman after her other allies had already falle. However, Rhaenyra sensed something about Cole’s movement didn’t make sense, as Rook’s Rest had little obvious value. Despite her sixth sense, Rhaenyra fell for Cole’s trap, losing the Black’s most valuable dragon.

Rhaenyra Keeps Jace Behind to Tell Him About Aegon the Conqueror’s Dream

In Fire & Blood, Rhaenyra prevented her sons Jace and Joffrey (no longer at Dragonstone on the HBO show) from joining Rhaenys out of fear for their lives. The history stresses that the death of Luke and the recent loss of her unborn child made Rhaenyra scared to send her other children into battle.

On House of the Dragon, Rhaenyra kept Jace behind (at least in part) so she could finally tell her heir about Aegon’s prophetic “A Song of Ice and Fire” dream about the inevitable White Walker invasion. She also cited that responsibility as part of her reason for finally unleashing dragons on her enemies, but no one else knows that but her son.

What the “Battle at Rook’s Rest” Means for House of the Dragon

No matter his reason for being there, Aegon is either dead or badly wounded. That calls into question how many people supporting his claim will still back the Greens now. Alicent’s callousness towards her son also contributed to him flying off into battle, another tragedy she will now have to live with. How much guilt and pain can she withstand?

Meanwhile, Aemond might have just tried to steal the crown (and possibly did), showing he’s not the loyal family member history remembers him as. With little Prince Jaehaerys dead (and the show omitting Aegon’s youngest son Maelor entirely) Aemond would likely be named King if Aegon died. What other treachery is Aemond One-Eye capable of? What might he do to rule? Can anyone trust him if he would willingly maim his own brother and king?

Things are even more dire for Rhaenyra. She lost her wisest adviser and biggest advocate. She also lost her best, most experienced fighting dragon and her allies in the crownlands. Rhaenyra also allowed Rhaenys to go off to battle alone while keeping her son and his dragon safely on Dragonstone. How will Lord Corlys and the rest of the (already frustrated) small council react to this disaster? How much will they trust Rhaenyra’s judgement both as a leader and a person? Where do her loyalties lie? To her sons or to her kingdom?

Who Won the “Battle at Rook’s Rest?”

The Blacks lost the “Battle at Rook’s Rest” in more ways than one. But the Greens did not win that day. Each side suffered losses that will shape the future of the Targaryen civil war on House of the Dragon. Unfortunately, it seems unlikely either faction will learn the one lesson they should have when dragons met high above the Realm, because the dancing has only just begun.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist and the world’s leading Criston Cole hater. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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House of the Dragon has a big creative advantage over most adaptations. George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood is not a definitive account of events. It’s a history of House Targaryen “written” by a maester that is incomplete or even wrong in certain places. (Though we can’t always know how or where). That’s especially true of the time period the HBO’s prequel series is retelling. That section is based on three biased sources that frequently conflict with one another, often because none of the chroniclers actually witnessed the events they wrote about. Their blindspots and distortions provide House of the Dragon narrative freedom. It also lets the show fill in huge gaps never mentioned. And House the Dragon‘s season two premiere used that storytelling advantage to make Queen Alicent and Ser Criston Cole’s relationship far more troubling, complex, and interesting.

In Fire & Blood, Kingsguard member Criston Cole goes from being the sworn sword of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen to the personal protector of her enemy, Alicent Hightower. No one in Westeros ever hated Rhaenyra more than the man who crowned her brother Aegon king. The Targaryen history provides a very personal reason for the enmity between the two formerly close duo: their relationship turned sexual.

In Fire & Blood, one source claims Cole asked Rhaenyra to run across the Narrow Sea with her, giving up her claim to the Iron Throne. Another says it was Rhaenyra who asked him to forsake his vows to the Kingsguard. What every historian agrees on is that, after that moment, the two despised one another. Criston Cole didn’t just turn his back on her, he worked to destroy her.

House of the Dragon‘s first season provided a definitive answer as to what happened between them. It’s the one that always made the most sense based on what we knew about each. It was Criston Cole, the worst person ever, who begged Rhaenyra to leave Westeros behind with him. The HBO series also gave us a reason for his request. It wasn’t one driven by love or even lust. Cole felt guilt for having broken his sacred vows in the first place and he wanted Rhaenyra to give up everything to make him feel better about himself. When she refused in House of the Dragon season one, Criston Cole abandoned her and went into the service of Queen Alicent instead.

For everything Fire & Blood says/suggests about Cole and Rhaenyra’s relationship, both explicitly and in subtext, it says almost nothing of his relationship with Alicent. Criston Cole becomes Alicent’s sworn sword and protector, but none of the book’s sources raise even a hint of impropriety between the two. But that doesn’t mean the show created a physical relationship out of thin air, either.

Westeros remembers Criston Cole for the unethical punk he was. It also knows he almost certainly broke his vows and slept with Rhaenyra. (Who was a drunk teenager the first time they slept together on the show). It’s not a stretch, in any way, to imagine Cole also went on to violate his oaths with a young, beautiful widow like Alicent. Nor it is absurd to think that a woman whose entire life was defined/bound by duty until that point took her handsome knight to bed when she was under the most stress she’d ever know.

While their physical relationship contributed to the show botching Fire & Blood‘s most shocking moment (the other side of the adaptation freedom coin), this expansion of their story is ultimately a good thing for the show. It makes all of their interactions more fraught. Their advice to Aegon, whether they agree or not, is also harder to trust. Alicent and Criston Cole have entangled themselves in a way that has often doomed other duos because personal relationships have a tendency to undermine duty and rational thinking.

Each character is also more interesting on their own now, too. This evolution of the relationship makes Alicent more complex and, therefore, more compelling. She’s not as “perfect” as she thought. Maybe now she fears/knows Rhaenyra was right about her true nature, especially since Alicent did the very thing she held against Rhaenyra. It’s even possible jealousy of how Rhaenyra got to live her life drove Alicent into Criston Cole’s arms in House of the Dragon season two. And while Alicent’s hypocrisy makes her less righteous, calling her piety into question, it makes her more human and, therefore, possibly more sympathetic. She’s as vulnerable and flawed as anyone. She gave in to her basest desires just like any other human might.

While this relationship twist makes Alicent more dynamic, it also makes Lord Commander Ser Criston Cole an even greater villain. He’s less a knight and more a walking fraud who speaks with a forked tongue. Every awful thing he says about Rhaenyra is projection. He can’t truly protect the King and his family because he’s compromised himself. He’s the amoral, unethical center at the Dance of the Dragons.

He’s what the show needs just as Game of Thrones needed characters like Joffrey, Ramsay, and Baelish. The handsome Kingsguard member who began his story so nobly and with so much promise is like a reverse Jaime Lannister, someone we hated but grew to love.

No one will ever love Criston Cole… Except apparently Alicent Hightower. And House of the Dragon is better for it.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist and the original Criston Cole hater. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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House of the Dragon‘s first season featured one of the most significant revelations in all of A Song of Ice and Fire. Aegon the Conqueror came to Westeros because he “foresaw the end of the world of men” at the icy hands of the White Walkers, and he believed the only hope to defeat the darkness was a unified Westeros led by a Targaryen. We learned about Aegon’s Dream when Viserys shared the secret with his daughter Rhaenyra. It was a vision the family’s kings had only ever told their own heirs. Or so we thought.

House of the Dragon‘s season two premiere has indicated the Conqueror shared that secret with an outsider, the Lord of a family Aegon knew would be the first line of defense when a “terrible winter gusting out of the distant north” began: House Stark. And that shared secret deepens the binds between House of the Dragon, Game of Thrones, Aegon, Jon Snow, the Targaryens, and the Starks.

House of the Dragon returned by returning us to Winterfell at the outset of winter. Season two also began with the voice of Lord Cregan Stark. He said, “Duty is sacrifice. It eclipses all things, even blood.” Those were no mere words, either. He said them as part of a ceremony we’ve never seen on either Game of Thrones show before. When winter starts, House Stark sends one in ten of its own kin, drawn by random lot, to join the Night’s Watch.

Most members of that ancient order are made up of “doomed men who had their life as their only possession.” Game of Thrones viewers know those doomed men—often rapists, thieves, and cravens—usually aren’t the best Westeros has to offer. The Night’s Watch needs capable, honorable fighters and leaders to keep those men in line. The Night’s Watch needs Starks.

Even without that ceremony, though, Starks have served in the Night’s Watch since its inception. The family’s members have often served as Lord Commanders.

What makes this new piece of northern lore so monumental is who began this tradition and when. This “sacrifice” changes everything we know about Aegon Targaryen’s interactions with the Starks and the North, and, therefore, the “bastard” who will one day unite the Realm against the White Walkers.

With the ceremony complete, Cregan Stark brought Rhaenyra Targaryen’s oldest son and heir, Jace, to the top of the Wall. Jace was on a diplomatic mission to secure support of major houses for his mother’s claim to the Iron Throne. The two talked about the first time a Stark swore an oath to a Targaryen, when King Torrhen Stark bent the knee to Aegon.

The current Lord of Winterfell then assured the prince, “Starks do not forget their oaths.” The North will keep the vow Cregan’s father Rickon made to Viserys when the King named Rhaenyra his rightful heir. However, Cregan also said he has an even more sacred oath that limits how many men he can commit to the Queen’s cause.

“My gaze is forever torn between north and south,” Cregan said. “In winter, my duty to the Wall is even more dire than the one I owe to King’s Landing.” Jace did not understand why guarding against “wildlings and weather” was more important than stopping the Hightowers and saving the Realm from a war that will rip it apart. That is until Jace gazed out past the Wall in awe.

Cregan then told the story about how Jace’s great grandparents, King Jaehaerys and his wife Queen Alysanne, once visited this very spot with his father Rickon. From there, the two Targaryens watched as their dragons, “the greatest power in the world,” refused to cross the Wall. The implication was obvious even before Cregan spoke again. “Do you think my ancestors built a 700-foot wall of ice to keep out snow and savages?” Lord Stark asked the prince. When Jace then asked what the Wall does keep out, Cregan told him: “Death.”

The Warden of the North’s comments show House Stark, even millennia after the First Long Night, always knew what the Wall kept out. That exchange also reflected a memorable and ominous moment from Game of Thrones‘ pilot.

In the original series’ premiere a visiting Benjen Stark, member of the Night’s Watch, discussed whispers of White Walker attacks with his brother Ned. Unlike everyone in else Westeros would for many years, the two did not dismiss or mock those reports. They spoke of the possibility with the solemnity of a Stark who knows, and has always known, “winter is coming.” House Stark’s ancient words were always a reminder of the real threat out of the darkness plotting its return.

That’s what makes the timing and originator of the Stark Night’s Watch ceremony so significant. That’s actually an understatement. It’s among the most meaningful pieces of lore ever introduced to A Song of Ice and Fire. To understand why, we need to go back to the start of House Stark and House Targaryen’s relationship, a century before House of the Dragon.

Aegon Targaryen had already conquered most of Westeros when he turned his attention to the King in the North, Torrhen Stark. Torrhen had marched 30,000 men into the Riverlands to take their stand against the larger force of House Targaryen. But by then, Torrhen knew what Aegon, his sisters, and their dragons could do, both good and bad. The Targaryens had already ended the lines of ancient houses who had not bent the knee while empowering those who had. Aegon bestowed honors on his new allies and spared their people.

Not surprisingly, some northern lords still wanted to fight, even though they must have known on some level they would lose. Instead, the evening before the battle, Torrhen sent his bastard brother and maesters to treat with Aegon.

George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood tells us “all through the night messages went back and forth” between the camps. In the morning, Torrhen did not fight as most expected of the northerners. Instead, he knelt as the King of Winter and “rose as Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North” for King Aegon Targaryen.

Why did Torrhen kneel? Wouldn’t a Stark—-leader of a family that traces its ancient blood back to the First Men, who defended Westeros against the White Walkers long ago, who held firm against the Andals—rather go out on his shield fighting than kneel to a foreign invader?

Those obvious questions have always made Torrhen’s decision seem an easy one to explain. He was a wise ruler who didn’t let his pride get in the way of saving the people he swore to protect. But those obvious questions are also why that explanation has always felt incomplete. Why didn’t Torrhen Stark, at least, offer to fight Aegon Targaryen in single combat? He might have died, but it would have been an honorable death that still kept northerners safe from dragon flame. Without understanding what he was fully saying, on House of the Dragon, Jace provided the reason why.

The prince told Cregan, “Surely the great Torrhen Stark would’ve sooner died than bent the knee. Unless he believed the Conqueror could bring unity to the Seven Kingdoms.” Cregan said that was right, but it’s not completely accurate. Before Aegon no one cared about unifying the Seven Kingdoms, especially the North, which was unlike any other kingdom. Torrhen Stark would not have knelt to Aegon Targaryen in the name of unity.

Not unless he truly knew what Aegon was unifying the Realm against.

Everything House of the Dragon revealed about Torrhen Stark—from why he kneeled to the Night’s Watch sacrifice he began right after he knelt—can be explained by something unsaid in words during that scene yet so obvious when taken as a whole: Aegon Targaryen told Torrhen Stark about his dream.

The Conqueror believed the battle with the White Walkers would begin in the North. He even personally called his prophetic dream “A Song of Ice and Fire.”

Aegon trusted Torrhen with the most important secret in the world because only together, Stark and Targaryen, did the living have a chance against the dead. We know Aegon was right. Jon Snow, the son and rightful heir to the Iron Throne born from the love Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark shared, was the only one who could unite the Realm to stand against the White Walkers. Jon Snow’s song, as the prophecy foretold of the Prince That Was Promised did, in fact, promise, was a song of ice and fire.

Did Torrhen tell his own heirs? That seems unlikely based on everything else we know of House Stark, but he didn’t have to. The Starks always knew what was lurking beyond the Wall, which is why Torrhen believed Aegon Targaryen in the first place. It’s why Torrhen started making sure the Night’s Watch had men from his own family who could lead them. It’s why Cregan Stark can’t send all his men to help Rhaenyra Targaryen. Winter has arrived, and that means the Night King might come with it.

Like in season one with Aegon’s Dream, this enormous revelation does more than just connect both shows. It’s also bigger than even the Starks and Targaryens and how important Rhaegar and Lyanna’s love will be one day. Its beauty goes beyond even that of the wondeful symmetry it creates, as King in the North Jon Snow—secretly named Aegon Targaryen—will one day kneel to a Targaryen ruler in the name of uniting the Realm just as Torrhen Stark once did.

This revelation gets to the beating heart of George R.R. Martin’s massive story.

Without this bond between Stark and Targaryen, these houses of ice and fire, death would have done what Aegon and Torrhen both feared. Together, they began crafting the song that would save the world.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist who got goosebumps during Jace and Cregan’s scene. You can follow him on Twitter and  Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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A big Fire & Blood book moment is coming to House of the Dragon season two. Book fans are very familiar with two minor characters, Blood and Cheese, who play a role in the Dance of the Dragons. Well, showrunner Ryan Condal says House of the Dragon will have a Blood and Cheese scene and it will be brutal. Shocking, I know. 

There’s no need to spoil things for those who aren’t familiar with the source material but Olivia Cooke, who portrays Queen Alicent, has this to say about it in an Entertainment Weekly interview:

“I’d just say, it is Game of Thrones, expect the worst. Expect the very worst possible, and then double it. I dunno what else to say without heavily spoiling it, but it is heinous.”

Oof. We do not know who is portraying the roles of Blood and Cheese in House of the Dragon nor how the show will put its spin on their brutal storyline. But there will be death and destruction as Team Black rises up against Team Green.

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House of the Dragon‘s first season put the pieces in place for all-out war, but the new trailer for the show’s sophomore season reminds us this family showdown won’t be limited to just the battlefield. The combatants will also need to struggle with their own demons and the choices they made that brought them to this point. And the two women at the center of this bloody war both know that in the end neither of them might win.

“Fire and blood” have come to Westeros, and the whole continent is going to burn in season two. This latest look at the infamous civil war that tore the Realm apart two centuries before Game of Thrones will pull in all Seven Kingdoms. But its the internal war its chief combatants must grapple with that could determine the outcome. Though, as both Olivia Cooke’s Queen Alicent and Emma Darcy’s Queen Rhaenyra know, sometimes to win a war you have to be willing to lose your soul. Are either willing to do that? House of the Dragon‘s latest trailer is a wild one, indeed.

House of the Dragon‘s other returning season one stars include Matt Smith, Eve Best, Steve Toussaint, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, Sonoya Mizuno, and Rhys Ifans. Other returning cast members include Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Phia Saban, Jefferson Hall, and Matthew Needham. 

Season two will also feature some important new faces in major roles. Abubakar Salim is onboard as Alyn of Hull. Clinton Liberty will play his brother Addam of Hull. Gayle Rankin will play the mysterious Alys Rivers. Freddie Fox will join the Hightower family as Ser Gwayne Hightower. Simon Russell Beale is headed to House Strong as Ser Simon. Tom Taylor will represent the North as Lord Cregan Stark. Vincent Regan will star as Ser Rickard Thorne. And Jamie Kenna has joined as Ser Alfred Broome. Meanwhile Kieran Bew will play Hugh the Hammer and Tom Bennett will play Ulf the White. They are two very important figures in the Dance of the Dragons.

House of the Dragon will return with its second season at HBO on Sunday June 16. It premieres at 9:00 pm ET. It will also be available to stream on Max. Pick your side well. Or, better yet, stay out of a war of fire and blood entirely. That might be the only way to win.

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House of the Dragon couldn’t tell the exact same story found in George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood even if wanted to. Numerous events in the author’s history feature multiple versions told by unreliable sources with agendas and biases. Those, combined with inaccuracies found in many historical retellings, make Fire & Blood‘s account of the Targaryen civil war far from definitive. That’s the Game of Thrones prequel’s biggest advantage. It has the freedom to explore the Dance of the Dragons in ways not even book readers might expect. But after the season one finale and the accidental death of Prince Lucerys Velaryon, it’s clear House of the Dragon is not just answering lingering questions and reconciling differences in the official record. The series is fundamentally changing events and character motivations in ways that make the story a lot less interesting.

Fire & Blood‘s Alicent Hightower is the leader of the “greens” and the driving force behind crowning her son king. House of the Dragon‘s Alicent was about to abandon that long-held goal before Viserys’s final scene. The dying king’s confusion altered both the Queen’s plans and reason for wanting Aegon seated on the Iron Throne. An honest misunderstanding will now frame her entire story going forward, rather than her own desires and wants. As a result she’s more sympathetic. Less of a villain than she is in the book, but also less compelling. Rather than a complicated mother driven by resentment, lust for power, and a deep yearning to keep her children safe from a woman she doesn’t trust, live-action Alicent is a victim of circumstance. That’s the same exact ill-conceived change House of the Dragon opted for in its season one finale with another major character.

Prince Aemond’s murder of his nephew high over Storm’s End is a seminal moment in the Dance of the Dragons. It destroys any remaining chance at a peaceful resolution and ensures a gruesome war. In Fire & Blood there’s no question Aemond meant to kill Prince Lucerys Velaryon. It’s an incredible moment rife with personal animosity, questionable decision-making, and tragic consequences. Aemond wants revenge against Lucerys because the young prince took his uncle’s eye years earlier. But in that moment Aemond, a great warrior known for flying off the handle, also recognizes an opportunity. Rhaenyra’s side has a dragon advantage. Killing Luce and Arrax weakens her and strengthens the greens’ cause. It’s not necessarily a great decision by Aemond, but it is a defensible one whether you believe that makes him an unlikeable figure or not.

House of the Dragon took Aemond’s agency and culpability away from him when it made Luce’s death an accident. After Prince Lucerys couldn’t control Arrax, an angry Vhagar disobeyed Aemond and killed the younger dragon and his rider, all while a helpless Aemond screamed “Nooo!” Was Aemond responsible for trying to frighten his nephew and using a Westerosi weapon of mass destruction in such a reckless way? Yes, but that’s a far cry from owning the responsibility of intentionally killing a scared kid and launching a continent-wide war.

This change, which now makes Aemond a victim of circumstances like his mother before him, is one House of the Dragon opted to make not out of necessity but desire. Lucerys’s death is not one of Fire & Blood‘s conflicting or unreliable reports. Not everything in that history comes from questionable sources. The specifics around major events at significant locations (like Storm’s End) are more trustworthy in the official account because countless people witnessed them and maester’s present for them recorded what happened. That includes what pushed Aemond to murder his nephew.

In the book version, Aemond ultimately hunts down Lucerys after one of Lord Boros Baratheon’s daughters taunts his manhood. After Lucerys refuses to fight, she says to Aemond, “Was it one of your eyes he took, or one of your balls? I am so glad you chose my sister. I want a husband with all his parts.” Had the show included that amazing moment, witnessed by many, it couldn’t have made Lucerys’s death an accident. To make such a major moment chance shows the series clearly wants to tell a different kind of story. Its version is one where events beyond people’s control move the plot rather than their own decisions. And stories where things happen to people rather than them doing things is less engaging.

We don’t need to travel far from Westeros to understand why, either. Imagine for a moment if Game of Thrones had changed the scene between Jaime, Cersei, and Bran. What if, instead of intentionally pushing Bran out of the window to protect their deadly incestuous secret, Jaime accidentally knocked Bran out of that tower? Would that have been more interesting? Was it more compelling watching Jaime spend his life dealing with the fallout of that decision than it would have been watching him deal with an oopsie doopsie? Would the Kingslayer’s arc to redemption, which took him from grand villain to beloved character, have been better or worse? The answer seems obvious. Just as it does when you consider any of the major events of the original show. And yet that’s what House of the Dragon just did to Aemond and his story, same as it did with Alicent.

Sometimes accidents we have no control over change the entire course of our lives. There is value and entertainment in seeing characters deal with moments like that. But not when it keeps happening over and over again, and not when it happens to characters who are interesting because of what they do and why. It’s powerful when characters own responsibility for their own actions and their consequences. Especially in the Dance of the Dragons. This is a family civil war, where personal failings, personal ambition, and personal animosity influence so much of the story. It’s why this era of House Targaryen was worthy of adapting in the first place.

House of the Dragon had—and still has—more creative freedom than most adaptations do. It can flesh out characters and add a level of depth and understanding of their actions frequently absent from Fire & Blood. It can also surprise book readers and newcomers alike. But the decision to radically change this story so it’s playing out more like the “Accidental Dance of the Dragons” is undermining so much of what makes this story engaging. House of the Dragon is showing us why Game of Thrones wouldn’t have been as good if characters like Tywin and Cersei weren’t so ruthless. And that Realm just isn’t as much fun. Who’s more fun to watch: an opportunistic, violent, vengeful, hot-tempered warrior with family issues? Or a helpless bystander who couldn’t control his own dragon?

We don’t need to feel bad for every character any more than we need to hate all of them. It’s better when we hate some people because we understand why they did the terrible thing they did. Just as it’s more interesting watching them deal with the consequences of their flawed choices. Taking away their agency is no accident, it’s a big mistake

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon, adapts George R. R. Martin’s book, Fire & Blood. The stories leads to one of the most brutal chapters in Westeros’ history: the Dance of the Dragons. Introducing a new group of Targaryen characters and their various allies and enemies in Westeros, House of the Dragon depicts the Targaryens at their most powerful, almost two centuries before the events of the original Game of Thrones show. 

The Dance of the Dragons was a civil war that sprung up over succession to the Iron Throne. It is one of the precipitating events that eventually brought down the power of House Targaryen in Westeros. Princess Rhaenyra, the heir appointed by King Viserys, battled for the right to rule. And while disputes of succession are by no means new to the world of Game of Thrones, the Dance of the Dragons revealed how hostile Westeros was to the idea of a female ruler. Even though Princess Rhaenyra established herself as the most level-headed option for King Viserys’ heir, the king’s male children from his second marriage to Alicent Hightower further muddied the waters of succession to the Iron Throne. 

So far, HBO’s adaptation of Fire & Blood has stayed largely faithful to the book. However, it lacks one specific aspect that enhances the story’s focus on how society stifles women in positions of power. Fire & Blood, unlike other Game of Thrones books, is an oral history. Instead of following the story from different characters’ perspectives, Fire & Blood offers a macro view of how narratives of the past are constructed, and the political ends that they can serve. This is apparent when the narrator reveals that two different historical accounts exist for the Dance of the Dragons, one written by Maester Eustace, and the other written by a court fool named Mushroom.

Maester Eustace’s account is a sober recollection of House Targaryen’s fall; Mushroom’s is a deeply sensationalized look at Princess Rhaenyra’s life in particular. In turn, this is a perfect framework for the story of House Targaryen, because of how morally complex many of the characters are. With the narrator unsure of which version of history is true, the book leaves it to the reader to determine how much they want to believe from either one. 

This discrepancy comes to a head when the scheming Prince Daemon, brother of King Viserys and uncle of Princess Rhaenyra, returns to King’s Landing. The narrator admits that the history gets muddled between Maester Eustace and Mushroom’s accounts. According to Maester Eustace, Daemon “seduced his niece the princess and claimed her maidenhood,” leading Rhaenyra to later tell her father that she was in love with Daemon. Mushroom, on the other hand, wrote that Rhaenyra longed for Ser Criston Cole, her personal guard, leading Daemon to teach her how to seduce men. This involved sneaking the princess out of the castle and into the Street of Silk, King’s Landing’s red light district. Rhaenyra then tried to seduce Criston Cole, only to have him reject her. Mushroom’s story soon came to light, and Viserys denied his daughter’s wrongdoing before Daemon confirmed that it was true. 

House of the Dragon settles this debate by adapting many details from Mushroom’s account. The main difference is Criston Cole accepted Rhaenyra’s advances. In doing so, it tacitly accepts Mushroom’s version as the truth, without interrogating the political ends the story had in the first place. After all, it was Mushroom who leaked Rhaenyra’s purported activities to the court. Clearly men, including Daemon, had much to gain from sullying the princess’ image. 

The show did try to replicate the discrepancies in the book. We see it in a scene where Queen Alicent confronts Rhaenyra about her rumored activities with Daemon. However, it falls short of presenting the most central fact of Fire & Blood: the hindsight of men forges history. Rather than unfolding in the present through a neutral party, the history of Fire & Blood frequently presents as a collaborative project, one in which the readers themselves are complicit. Fire & Blood pulls readers in to teach them the early history of House Targaryen. Then, it shows them the patchwork of lies and incomplete truths governing the narrative. In the end, they walk away with no definitive account of what really happened. In this sense, Fire & Blood is less a history of House Targaryen, and more a portrait of the construction of history in Westeros in the first place. 

This lack of subjectivity in House of the Dragon is intriguing, given that so much of the show’s themes circle around the subjugation of women like Rhaenyra. By leaving out the roles that Maester Eustace and Mushroom played in documenting the history of House Targaryen, House of the Dragon misses the book’s most damning revelation: even at the height of their power, House Targaryen was never in control of their own narrative. As they terrorized Westeros with their display of dragons and military might, the Targaryens’ power eroded from the inside thanks to men with political agendas watching their every move. While it may be easy to wipe out entire armies full of men with a dragon, not even the Targaryens could extinguish a story spread by men like Maester Eustace and Mushroom. 

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Unlike most book adaptations, House of the Dragon is based on unreliable source material. George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood is “written” by an archmaester who lived long after the Targaryen civil war. And that fictional historian’s retelling relies on primary sources whose accounts are not only questionable, they frequently contradict. But that’s a good thing for viewers and readers alike. The spinoff series is giving us answers to some of Fire & Blood‘s most debated events, including one of the most important moments in Ser Criston Cole’s life. We now know he was the one who asked Rhaenyra to run away with him. But that wasn’t the only huge revelation the show’s explosive fifth episode gave us about the dishonorable Kingsguard. And everything we learned about him will frame his upcoming role in the Dance of the Dragons.

Fire & Blood is full of conflicting reports about signature events from this era of House Targaryen. That includes the matter of whether Princess Rhaenyra or Ser Criston Cole asked the other to run off to a life together in Essos. Now we know Rhaenyra’s sworn protector beseeched her to abdicate her throne. That wasn’t surprising, given what we know what Rhaenyra will do to claim the Iron Throne later in life. But Ser Criston’s reasons for making that outrageous request were.

Long before we got a definitive answer of who made this request, it always seemed clear it was one of love. Fire & Blood leaves no doubt Ser Criston Cole and Rhaenyra Targaryen had an intimate bond when she was younger. It was also easy to imagine why Cole would make such a desperate, outrageous plea. It’s easy to understand why a lovesick nobody from a minor house, raised to prominence by the princess he swore to keep safe, would think a fairy tale ending awaited them.

But House of the Dragon made clear the true story was far more complicated—and a lot less noble—than we ever thought. Ser Criston’s offer was not merely one of the heart, it was a selfish one. He loves Rhaenyra, but he also wanted her to rescue him from his own actions. He’s struggling to live with himself since he broke his vows (and continued breaking them) with the princess. He violated his white cloak, the “only thing” he has to his “f***ing name.” If she would merely give up her family, her title, her home, her responsibilities, and her future crown, he wouldn’t have to feel so badly about himself. She could save his honor for him.

Throw in that crate of oranges and it’s incredible she turned him down! What an offer! Rhaenyra gives up literally everything so the guy that took advantage of a drunk teenager can feel better about himself.

Whatever you think of Princess Rhaenyra and her own decisions, Ser Criston Cole clearly did not act purely out of love when he asked for her hand in marriage. Nor was he heartbroken because she said no. He was angry. He was angry at himself before, now he’s angry at her, with little self-reflection for why he is solely responsible for his own actions.

And as though that wasn’t bad enough, Criston Cole then violated Rhaenyra’s trust to Queen Alicent. He was so lost in self-pity he confessed to a crime no one accused him of. Only his guilt and need for absolution mattered to him in that moment. He gave no consideration to what his admission would mean for Princess Rhaenyra, a girl already dealing with powerful forces seeking to deny her the Iron Throne. That’s a shocking confession not found in Fire & Blood, one that has completely changed our understanding of the story.

At least Ser Criston’s anger and guilt only led him to betray Rhaenyra’s secret. Cole took out his anger and guilt on naive Ser Joffrey Lonmouth’s face, in one of the most despicable moments in Kingsguard history. Ser Criston responded to a toothless “threat” with a cold blooded murder in the throne room before half the Realm.

Ser Criston Cole’s story would have ended right then had Alicent not stopped him from taking his own life in the Godswood. And that might be this episode’s single most important revelation. It didn’t just answer some big questions about the infamous knight; it marked a major change for the Queen. She now realizes King’s Landing and its heir—which cast away her father in service of a lie—are not as sweet and innocent as she thought. Queen Alicent is finally ready to play the game of thrones.

And she begins this deadly game with a secret that could ruin Rhaenyra. A secret Ser Criston Cole is desperate to keep hidden. And what he’ll do to make sure it does—including to whom he’ll swear allegiance in the future—will forever change Westeros.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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Game of Thrones adapted George R.R. Martin’s (sigh…still unfinished) A Song of Ice and Fire series. But HBO’s prequel spinoff isn’t based on those novels. House of the Dragon begins two centuries before Robert Baratheon asked Ned Stark to serve as Hand of the King. Unlike with the original hit show, though, we already know a great deal about the Dance of the Dragons that will take place in House of the Dragon thanks to the 2018 book Fire & Blood. It’s part one of Martin’s (planned two-part) history of House Targaryen.

However, it’s not the only source we have for the civil war that pitted dragon against dragon. Even that prequel has prequels. Here is a rundown of the books that House of the Dragon is based on.

What Is George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood About?

For millennia Old Valyria ruled over much of Essos. House Targaryen was only a minor dragonlord family of the empire’s 40 ruling noble houses. But things changed twelve years before the “Doom of Valyria” killed all the other dragonlords in 114 BAC (Before Aegon’s Conquest.) Fire & Blood begins the Targaryen story in Westeros with those events and is the main book that House of the Dragon will be based on. But exactly happens in this Game of Thrones prequel book?

Lord Aenar Targaryen, to the bemusement and scorn of the other Valyrian rulers, moved his family to the empire’s most western outpost of Dragonstone. His daughter Daenys had a prophetic dream about Valyria’s end. When it came true a dozen years later the Targaryens stood as the only remaining dragonlords in the world. But they did not use “fire made flesh” to take over Westeros for another century. That’s when Aegon and his two sisters brought fire and blood to the Realm. The book that takes its name from the words of House Targaryen covers the first half of the family’s three centuries-long dynasty in the Seven Kingdoms.

Fire & Blood covers the family’s story starting from Aegon’s reign and then following the five kings that came after him. It then ends with the Targaryen civil war the Dance of the Dragons, which House of the Dragon will bring to life. The Game of Thrones prequel book concludes halfway through the reign of the seventh Targaryen ruler in Westeros, the one who ascended to the throne when the war finally ended. We won’t name that person for those hoping to avoid spoilers for the show. But that monarch’s reign marked the final time anyone saw a dragon until Daenerys Stormborn.

Is House of the Dragon Based on Any Other Books?

Fire & Blood—presented as in-world history from Archmaester Gyldayn—is the most complete source we have for both House of the Dragon and the first half of House Targaryen’s reign in Westeros. But House of the Dragon may not be based on only one book; there are a few other sources that we could see come into play.

Before its release, fans of A Song and Ice and Fire learned about that civil war and its major participants from other official sources. The most important is the 2014 compendium The World of Ice & Fire. This book covers tens of thousands of years of Westeros’s history. That includes a large section on House Targaryen’s reign spanning every ruler from Aegon until Aerys II, the Mad King. However, that section is just a fraction of what Fire & Blood reveals.

Written by Martin along with Elio Garcia and Linda Antonsson, The World of Ice & Fire is also presented as an in-world history from Maester Yandel. The Maester wrote it for the benefit of the newly crowned King Joffrey Tommen. (Joffrey’s name is actually written over.) However, readers already knew some aspects of the Dance of the Dragons prior to that book’s release. Martin previously shared tales about some of the war’s major figures in short story collections the author contributed to.

And as though that’s not enough, A Wiki of Ice & Fire covers all of the lore and history known about A Song of Ice and Fire. The website is part of Westeros.org, run by The World of Ice & Fire co-writers Garcia and Antonsson.

All of Martin’s companion books are canon. And A Wiki of Ice & Fire is an invaluable, meticulously curated source. But sometimes the maesters’ “writing” these histories have conflicting sources. In some instances all we officially know is that no one in Westeros officially knows what happened. House of the Dragon will seemingly give us some answers to the war’s greatest mysteries, though. Martin said the show will not tell all three versions of events from the civil war’s primary historical sources.

Are There White Walkers in Fire & Blood?

The original Long Night ended in Westeros before the birth of dragons halfway around the world in Valyria. The forces of ice and fire never crossed paths during House Targaryens rule on either continent. For thousands of years most people believed the White Walkers were simply an old wive’s tale. It wasn’t until Daenerys Stormborn flew beyond The Wall on Game of Thrones that a dragonlord saw the dead.

House of the Dragon‘s story doesn’t involve White Walkers in anyway. But considering how many dragons will die roughly 170 years before the Night King returns, the ice lord’s presence will loom over everything. More dragons would have helped dealing with wights, even if they couldn’t harm the Night King himself.

Does House of the Dragon Have Anything to Do with The Winds of Winter?

No, not at all. Well, at least from a story point of view it doesn’t. The prequel show is yet another project requiring time and focus from George R.R. Martin. Which means it’s one more project slowing him down from finishing a book that is long, long, long overdue.

And since he plans on releasing part two of Fire & Blood, which could someday lead to another HBO series, technically everything he does is related to The Winds of Winter. But we’re going to try and enjoy House of the Dragon anyway and see how it lines up with the Fire & Blood book. At least we don’t have to worry about it running out of source material.

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The haunting score, the schemes, the hint of wars to come, we’re officially back on Westeros, baby. It’s been quite the ride since HBO revealed plans for a Game of Thrones spinoff. First there was the five pitches floating around, then the canceled pilot. Things were a bit fraught in Thrones spinoff territory. But, from the ashes The House of the Dragon rose, and now we have our very first look at the upcoming TV series. And, we have to say, it has us pretty intrigued.

The upcoming series, based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, is a deep dive into the Targaryen family. According to HBO, the series takes place 200 years before the events in Game of Thrones—meaning we’re steamrolling towards a Targaryen civil war. Which, of course, is known as “The Dance of the Dragons,” and is the deadly war that brought dragons to extinction… well, until Daenerys shows up more than 100 years later.

The trailer also gives us a glimpse of just a few of our major players. There’s Paddy Considine on as King Viserys I; Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower; Rhys Ifans as Hand of the King Otto Hightower; Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon; Fabien Frankel will play Ser Criston Cole of Dorn; Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria; Emma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen.

And, of course, Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen, who, in the chilling voiceover, says, “Gods, kings, fire, and blood. Dreams didn’t make us kings, dragons did.”

HBO Max

In addition to this exciting first glimpse of the series, HBO also revealed a slew of new casting additions, all related to Toussaint and Best’s characters—so extended members of the Targaryen clan. They are Wil Johnson as Coryls Velaryon’s younger brother, Ser Vaemond Velaryon; and John Macmillan, Savannah Steyn, and Theo Nate as Coryls and Rhaenys’ children.

The series is co-created by Martin and Ryan Condal, both of whom are executive producing. Condal, who is also writing on the series, is co-showrunner with Miguel Sapochnik, a Thrones’ alum who directed several acclaimed episodes. Sapochnik, who is also executive producing, is directing the pilot as well as several additional episodes.

We’re incredibly curious about what to expect from the new series. And luckily it’s not too far off. House of the Dragon debuts in 2022.

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The first Game of Thrones prequel to film a pilot has come face to face with the Stranger. The show’s creator, Jane Goldman, has contacted the cast and crew to inform them the series, set thousands of years ago during Westeros’ mysterious Age of Heroes, is not being picked up. But what is dead may never die, and while this news might be disappointing to some, it’s not totally surprising. More importantly it doesn’t mean the end of HBO’s time with George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. It just means that when the network returns to the Seven Kingdoms it’s more likely to do so with a different storyline.. And that’s good news if you really love dragons.

HBO

For the last year it certainly seemed likely Goldman’s series, which George R.R. Martin also worked on and kept referring to as “The Long Night,” would be the first Game of Thrones prequel ordered to a full series. Out of the five ideas originally developed by HBO in 2017, it was the only one to get a full pilot order, which it finished shooting over the summer. However, in September a new report said a second prequel idea, this one based on the era of Targaryen rule in Westeros, was also going to shoot a pilot. It wasn’t impossible both could be ultimately be produced, especially in such a competitive TV/streaming site landscape, but it definitely wasn’t a great sign for Goldman’s show.

If HBO was fully committed to “The Long Night” and expected to pick it up, would they have been putting major resources into yet another idea so soon? After the sour reaction to Game of Thrones‘ final season, that would have been a lot of money and resources invested in a franchise that might not have a large built-in audience anymore. HBO might have Lannister money, but even Tywin’s goldmines ran dry eventually. Now it appears that second pilot order really was as ominous as it appeared.

We don’t know yet why HBO passed on a story set thousands of years earlier during a very different time in the Realm’s history. It could simply be the pilot was bad (though a disastrous first pilot didn’t stop Game of Thrones from being produced), or maybe executives decided the story itself wasn’t compelling enough (even if there were lots of reasons to think it would). What we do know is the second pilot has a lot more in common with the worldwide phenomenon that ended this year.

HBO

Though the specifics remain unclear, the prequel idea in development now is based on part one of George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood history of House Targaryen. Instead of being set millennia ago, before either dragons or Targaryens existed, it will only date back at most 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones. And if it ends up being an anthology series (please please please), it could eventually end with the Mad King’s death, connecting it to the original series.

The story of the Targaryen kings is a three century long tale of betrayal, families, war, love, and the true cost of power. It’s Game of Thrones without the Night King. Ultimately that could be why it has more appeal to HBO than “The Long Night” did. Set during the first White Walker invasion which lasted much longer than the second, it would have had far more fantasy elements, and maybe even evil Starks to root against. It was an idea with a lot of intriguing elements to explore, but this could be a case of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and a story about powerful people fighting over the Iron Throne definitely worked.

And everyone likes dragons. Well, maybe not everyone. King’s Landing probably doesn’t.

Featured Image: HBO

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HBO

Deadline first reported that HBO had ordered a second Thrones prequel pilot, and it’s based on the first (of a planned two) of George R.R. Martin’s House Targaryen history books, Fire and Blood. Per the reports, the show “is set 300 years before the events in Game of Thrones and tracks the beginning of the end for House Targaryen.” Their demise started with the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons, which “will be a significant part of the TV adaptation.”

However, Ageon’s Conquest and the Dance of the Dragons are separated by 130 years, and outside of 700-year-old witches like Melisandre, no one who was alive when Aegon was crowned was around to see dragons fight dragons in the feud for the Iron Throne that tore Westeros in half. Any show that would tell both stories would have to change their entire cast and almost certainly skip massive chunks of time between seasons, even multiple decades. But an anthology series sounds like the perfect way to bring some of the best Targaryen tales to life.

The actual conquest of Westeros, while visually stunning and full of compelling characters, deaths, and political maneuvering, didn’t take all that long. And while certain events during Aegon’s then (mostly) peaceful reign are interesting, especially his continuing efforts to take Dorne, it’s not quite suited for a long-running TV show in a franchise where big things happen a lot. Even the Dance of the Dragons, which had countless twists and turns, murder, betrayal, royal intrigue, family chaos, great heroes and villains, and whose own facts are muddled by multiple historians of questionable integrity, likely would work best as a three-season show at most.

An anthology series would allow HBO to tell both stories, and also to mix in another engrossing era of Targaryen upheaval that took place between them. After his death, Aegon’s two sons were beset by major problems that risked Targaryen power. One son proved ineffectual, the other cruel, and combined the story of Aegon’s successors would make for a riveting couple of TV seasons as well.

And while HBO is making the show, George R.R. Martin might even release some new books (SHUT UP, HE MIGHT), including the second part of Fire and Blood. It will recount more attempts by Targaryen kings to conquer Dorne, the odd rule of Baelor the Blessed, the despicable reign of Aegon the Unworthy and the Blackfyre Rebellions, the Tragedy of Summerhall where Dunk and Egg both died trying to hatch dragon eggs, and finally the death of the Mad King.

On their own none would make for a long-term TV show, but each would make for an amazing entry in an anthology series.

Want to know more about the rise and fall of the Targaryens? Check out our series History of Thrones, which explores the lore and past of Westeros.

Featured Image: HBO

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