Diksha Sundriyal
HBO’s ‘House of the Dragon’ focuses on the history of the Targaryen dynasty, tracing the events of the Dance of the Dragons, which marks the beginning of their end. While the shrewd politics and the ruthless bloodshed between the Blacks and the Greens take centerstage, we also get callbacks to ‘Game of Thrones,’ particularly the storyline about “the prince who was promised.” It is first mentioned in Season 1, when Viserys tells his heir, Rhaenyra, about Aegon’s dream and why it is important that the entire Westeros remain united to fight a common enemy. Not many people know about this story, which causes all sorts of misunderstandings between the factions.
In the finale of Season 2, however, another major character becomes privy to the tale, and it marks a significant change in the story. Daemon Targaryen is led to the weirwood tree in Harrenhal by Alys Rivers, and when he touches the blood oozing out of the tree, he is led to a series of visions that change everything he thought he knew. SPOILERS AHEAD
Daemon Sees The Three-Eyed Raven
The first thing that Daemon sees in his vision is a man caught up in the branches of a tree. This man has a mark on his face, which transforms into a three-eyed raven. We have met this man before in ‘Game of Thrones’ as the three-eyed raven whom Bran Stark finds beyond the Wall, living in a cave with the Children of the Forest. This man becomes his mentor and teaches him the things that make Bran the next three-eyed raven. While the old man played a significant part in Bran’s story, his true identity was never really discussed in the show. We never got to know his real name. ‘House of the Dragon’ presents clarity on the matter by confirming that the man is Brynden Rivers.
Called Bloodraven due to the wine-stain birthmark on his face, Brynden Rivers was the bastard son of Aegon IV Targaryen, the grandson of Rhaenyra and Daemon Targaryen. While he had a Targaryen heritage, his appearance was mostly defined by him being an albino. His most defining feature, however, was the birthmark that starkly contrasted his milk-white skin. There were all kinds of stories about Brynden Rivers, especially about his birthmark, which resembled a red raven. According to Ser Duncan the Tall (whose story will be explored in ‘Game of Thrones’ spin-off, ‘The Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’), Brynden Rivers was said to have the ability to change form, that he could “change his face, put on the likeness of a one-eyed dog, even turn into a mist.”
His powers were mostly discarded as rumors, but Brynden Rivers rose to become Hand of the King and was instrumental during the Blackfyre rebellion. Later, however, he was sent to the Wall with Maester Aemon, where he joined the Night’s Watch and ended up becoming the Lord Commander. During one of his trips beyond the Wall, he disappeared, never to be seen again. That was until Bran Stark found him. ‘Game of Thrones’ hadn’t acknowledged this detail yet, but with Daemon’s vision, the Three-Eyed Raven’s identity is not only confirmed, but it is also possible that we might get to see some of Brynden Rivers’ journey in ‘The Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.’
The White Walkers and Daenerys Targaryen
After the Three-Eyed Raven, Daemon sees the Night King, the White Walkers army following him, a dead dragon (Viserion), and the carnage in the Battle of Winterfell. Then comes the red comet, which appeared in the second season of ‘Game of Thrones’ when the War of the Five Kings had already picked pace. The sight of the comet made everyone wonder what it meant: whether it was a good omen for Robb Stark’s victory or if it meant that the young wolf would fall. Only Osha deduced the comet’s presence as the mark of dragons.
Following the comet, Daemon sees three dragon eggs, and Daenerys Targaryen and the three dragons with whom she walks out of Khal Drogo’s funeral pyre. This is the entirety of the Song of Ice and Fire, which Viserys did not tell Daemon about. But he did hear about it from Rhaenyra when she told him that because Viserys hadn’t told him about it, it proved that Daemon was never meant to be his heir. Sure enough, the next vision in front of Daemon is an adult Rhaenyra sitting on the Iron Throne.
Seeing it all unfold in front of his eyes gives Daemon the context of where the story is heading and why it is important to have a stable Targaryen leader on the throne who can unite the whole kingdom. This is when he understands what is at stake here and why Viserys chose Rhaenyra over everyone else. It also gives him a perspective of how important the current war is and how petty his own desire to claim the throne for himself. He seemed to have decided to use the forces he had assembled at Harrenhal to lay his claim on the Iron Throne and raise his banners, separate from Rhaenyra and was ready to die for it if that’s what it took. However, the vision shows him that this is not the part he was born to play in this story, which started long before he was born and will end long after he dies.
Why Does Daemon See Helaena?
One of the most interesting things about Daemon’s vision is the end when he sees Helaena, who addresses him directly. This is not like his previous visions, in which he saw Viserys and young Rhaenyra, who came out of a place of loss and guilt. He didn’t feel chastised for being the Rogue Prince and never doing what was expected of him. It wasn’t Viserys repeating the things he’d said to Daemon when he was alive, nor was it young Rhaenyra accusing him of wanting what never belonged to him. This time, Helaena’s words come straight out of her mouth while she stands on her balcony in the Red Keep, immersed in her own vision.
Instead of accusing him of killing her son or for every other bad thing he has done so far, Helaena tells him to understand and accept the role he was meant to play in the story unfolding in Westeros. She encourages him to play his part in the thing and let things happen as they are meant to. What makes it more interesting is she actually says these words to him. It isn’t just Daemon hallucinating her or seeing her in a vision. She is actually there with him at the moment, which is a testament to her power as a dragon seer.
The show takes it a step further in the next scene when Aemond tries to persuade Helaena to take Dreamfyre to war with him, and she accuses him of burning Aegon. This is when Helaena basically spoils the whole thing for HOTD viewers. She tells Aemond that he will die in God’s Eye and talks about it not as a future event but as something that has already happened. In the same vein, she also talks about Aegon yet having to see victory and sitting on a wooden throne, which is most likely a reference to the wooden seat that he will eventually be restricted to due to his injuries. When Aemond threatens to kill her, she tells him that it won’t change a single thing.
This proves that Helaena knows exactly what is going to happen, not just in the war between the Blacks and the Greens but also hundreds of years later, with the White Walkers and Daenerys’s dragons. She is also privy to the Song of Ice and Fire and understands that things must happen the way they are meant to. This is why perhaps she is much more accommodating of the losses she has suffered so far, including her own son. This is why, perhaps, when Cheese asked her to identify her son from her twins, she did it and let him die. She let it all happen and watched things take their course because she knew that no matter what she did, it wouldn’t change a single thing and that, in the end, it is all just one part of a huge story that is supposed to happen, one way or another.
Read More: House of the Dragon: Why is Harrenhal Cursed, Explained
