'House of the Dragon' Season 2 finale: Who is Bloodraven, the man in Daemon's weirwood vision?

House of the Dragon Season 2 had one more Harrenhal vision for Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) up its sleeve — and this one was a doozy.

In the Season 2 finale, titled "The Queen Who Ever Was," Daemon touches Harrenhal's weirwood tree and has a vision of the future, including images that any Game of Thrones fan would recognize, like White Walkers and Daenerys Targaryen herself. But she's not the only Game of Thrones character to feature prominently in Daemon's vision.

As Daemon's vision begins, we see a man (Joshua Ben-Tovim) sitting in a weirwood tree in the middle of a cave. He has Targaryen-pale hair and a red birthmark on his cheek and neck, which morphs into a three-eyed raven. That image, combined with the man's weirwood perch, signals that he is none other than the Three-Eyed Raven, Bran Stark's greenseer mentor in the later seasons of Game of Thrones. However, long before he taught Bran, the Three-Eyed Raven was known by a different name: Brynden Rivers.

Who is Brynden Rivers, or Bloodraven?

Brynden Rivers is the Targaryen bastard of King Aegon IV, meaning he's born several decades after the events of House of the Dragon. His birthmark, thought to resemble a raven made of blood, earns him the nickname Bloodraven.

Throughout his life, Brynden is involved in the Blackfyre Rebellions, which pit House Targaryen against House Blackfyre, founded by a legitimized Targaryen bastard. Brynden also serves as Lord Commander of the Night's Watch for a time. He goes on to disappear behind the Wall, where he must have found a nice little weirwood cave where he could greensee in peace.

You don't really need to know any of this for House of the Dragon — again, Brynden is years from being born — but knowledge of Brynden might be useful for HBO's next Westeros-set series: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

What is A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms about, and how is Brynden Rivers involved?

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is based on George R.R. Martin's Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas, about Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) and his squire Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell). Brynden Rivers appears in the third novella, The Mystery Knight, as Hand of the King. But could his appearance in House of the Dragon mean that he'll be popping up earlier in the onscreen stories of Dunk and Egg?

If so, Daemon isn't just seeing the in-world future of Westeros in his vision: He's seeing the rest of HBO's Westeros-based programming. Between hints at The Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and Game of Thrones itself, this weirwood is clearly a fan of cinematic universe-style storytelling (and HBO corporate synergy).

House of the Dragon Season 2 is now streaming on Max.