[Ed. note: This story contains spoilers for all eight seasons of Game of Thrones and the first episode of House of the Dragon.] The first episode of House of the Dragon revolves around King Viserys’ final choice to name his daughter Rhaenyra as his successor for the Iron Throne of Westeros. This contradicted the kingdom’s precedents, specifically the decision of the Great Council of 101 AC which cemented in the minds of most that male heirs had priority to the crown over female heirs. None of this is news to viewers familiar with the story of the prequel series, but what King Viserys tells his teenage daughter should come as a welcome surprise to die-hard A Song of Ice and Fire fans . Image: HBO Inside the Red Keep, Viserys tells Rhaenyra a little about Aegon the Conqueror, the first Targaryen king in Westeros and the man who united the continent’s seven warring kingdoms into one he could rule. More importantly, Viserys reveals that Aegon initially sought to conquer Westeros because he had a vision of the end of the world: And just as Daenys saw the end of Valyria, Aegon foresaw the end of the human world. It is to begin with a terrible winter, springing from the far north. Aegon saw utter darkness ride these winds, and whatever dwells within will destroy the world of the living. When this great winter comes, Rhaenyra, all of Westeros must stand against it. And if the human world is to survive, then a Targaryen must sit on the Iron Throne. A king or queen, strong enough to unite the realm against cold and darkness. Aegon called his dream “A Song of Ice and Fire”. This secret has been passed from king to heir since the time of Aegon. And now you have to promise to keep it. And carry it. This prophecy is both unique and important for its place in the series. While prophecies in modern fantasy stories, especially A Song of Ice and Fire, are often used ironically or as misdirection, this one is given to us as almost unquestionably true. Placed next to Daenys’ correct prophecy of the end of Valyria, which saved the Targaryen dynasty from the Doom that destroyed Valyria and sent them to Dragonstone and Westeros for the first time, Aegon’s dream takes on a little extra credibility. We also know it’s (mostly) true because… we’ve already seen the end. We know that the return of a Targaryen to Westeros, and her dragons, is critical to the fight against the White Walkers and saving the men from the Long Night. We also know it’s a Targaryen named Aegon who does the saving — since that’s Jon Snow’s real name. (As a fun tidbit, this also gives us the second explanation for the show’s name A Song of Ice and Fire, which most fans commonly assume refers to Jon being the child of a Stark and a Targaryen — representing ice and fire.) While all of this sounds like it could be conveniently completed by showrunners Ryan J. Condal and Miguel Sapochnik, that’s not the case. In an interview with Polygon ahead of House of the Dragon’s premiere, Kondal confirmed that this particular dream came directly from Martin. Image: HBO “That actually came from [Martin], at least the origin of that point,” Condal said. “He told us very early in the room — as he did, he simply mentioned the fact that Aegon the Conqueror was a dreamer who saw a vision of the White Walkers coming through the wall and sweeping the land with cold and darkness. […] So with his permission, of course, we infused that into the story because it was a great way to resonate with the original show.” This is already a huge reveal for one of the most important characters in the A Song of Ice and Fire universe, but with a little speculation, it’s also easy to see how this could give us an idea of the ways in which his book Martin finished for the series could deviate from what we saw in HBO’s Game of Thrones. According to Viserys, to save the world, all of Westeros must unite against the threat from the North and a Targaryen must sit on the Iron Throne. Both are somewhat vaguely from the HBO series, but not really real. Neither Dany nor Jon are actually on the throne until the Great Night arrives, and the final battle at Winterfell really only involves a small force and not all of Westeros. Photo: Helen Sloan/HBO If Aegon’s prophecy is correct – and it proves to be in the books – then it’s possible we’ll see Jon or Dany (notice Viserys says king or queen) take King’s Landing and the Iron Throne long before the Long Night arrives. It also means we could see the army of the dead march much further south, threatening much more of Westeros than in the series. For now, though, like most A Song of Ice and Fire questions, we’ll just have to wait for the books to find out if any of this comes out. But at the very least, this tiny bit of dialogue proves that House of the Dragon has more new information to share with viewers and die-hard fans than its status as a prequel and a Fire & Blood adaptation might suggest.
