'House of the Dragon' had 1 neatly packaged moment for 'Game of Thrones' fans
It wouldn't be a Game of Thrones spinoff without at least one Easter egg now, would it?
With 200 years separating House of the Dragon from the show that kick-started all this, we didn't think people would need to have seen Game of Thrones to watch the new spin-off — but maybe we weren't entirely right about that.
OK, so admittedly the story House of the Dragon tells (which is based on George R. R. Martin's book Fire and Blood) is a completely new one. Aside from the characters all being ancestors of the characters we know from Thrones, there isn't too much to connect them.
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Or at least, that's what we thought going in.
Interestingly, though, right at the end of episode one, King Viserys (Paddy Considine) says something to his daughter, Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock), that brings everything from Thrones flooding back.
"There's something else I need to tell you," he whispers, after telling her she's going to be his heir. "It might be difficult for you to understand, but you must hear it."
He then launches into a story about Aegon I Targaryen, the conqueror of Westeros, and how it wasn't just a desire for conquest that drove him to unite the Seven Kingdoms back in the day. It was also a dream.
"Just as Daenys foresaw the end of Valyria, Aegon foresaw the end of the world of men. 'Tis to begin with a terrible winter, gusting out of the distant north. Aegon saw absolute darkness riding on those wings, 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 world of men is to survive a Targaryen must be seated on the Iron Throne. A king or queen, strong enough to unite the realm against the cold and the dark. Aegon called his dream the Song of Ice and Fire. This secret has been passed from king to heir since Aegon's time. Now you must promise to carry it and protect it. Promise me, dear Rhaenyra. Promise me."
Well, well, well. The Song of Ice and Fire, eh? There's something slightly shiver-inducing about hearing those words spoken 200 years before the days of Daenerys and Jon Snow, and knowing the weight of them. That apocalyptic prophecy is one of the driving narratives in Game of Thrones, and this serves as a chilling reminder that it's been more than 200 years in the making.
From the sounds of it, though, mention of the prophecy won't just be a throwaway Easter egg. In the trailer HBO released for the show's upcoming episodes, it features again.
"From my blood come the Prince that was Promised," reads Rhaenyra in the promo. "And his will be the Song of Ice and Fire."
This is followed by King Viserys talking about how "the burden of this knowledge is larger than the throne."
Based on this, it appears that the spectre of a long Winter is likely to hang over House of the Dragon in the same way that it did Game of Thrones. If we had to guess, though, unlike in Thrones (where the prophecy was due to play out imminently), here it seems that it will mainly be a driver for character motivations.
If Princess Rhaenyra knows that Westeros will one day need to stand united against an external threat, will it make her more keen to form allegiances with the other houses? Will it make her the kind of ruler that prioritises peace and unity?
Only time will tell, but one thing is clear: Just because we're now two centuries removed from GoT doesn't mean we're no longer connected to it.
New House of the Dragon episodes are available every Sunday on HBO and HBO Max.
