Diksha Sundriyal
The civil war in the House Targaryen resumes in the second season of HBO’s ‘House of the Dragon,’ as Team Black and Team Green prepare for the inevitable. The events pick up in the aftermath of Lucerys Velaryon’s death, with Rhaenyra grieving for her son while her council tries to figure out the best way to move forward. Meanwhile, the Greens brace for attack and plan their next move, with Aegon fully taking over the role of the King. As the story evolves, we also witness a change in the opening credits of the show, which is a significant departure from what we saw last season. Why was the opening sequence changed, and what does it mean for the future of the show?
Season 2 Opening Sequence is Much More Elaborate Than Season 1
Since the first episode of ‘Game of Thrones’, opening credits have been used to tie in with the storyline and updated according to the movements of the characters and the plot. House of the Dragon continues with this trend and uses its opening sequence to update the audience about the status of the story while also looking back at the past, to which the story remains tethered no matter what happens in the present.
The first season of ‘House of the Dragon’ uses the model of Old Valyria, which we later see King Viserys carving out elaborately in his spare time. The blood flows through its grooves, moving from one sigil to another. This shows the movement of the Targaryen bloodline through the years from Aegon the Conqueror to King Viserys and his children. With each episode, the model received some changes to fit in the new characters, especially with Viserys expanding his bloodline through his second marriage and then his children getting married to produce more Targaryens.
With “Fire and Blood” as its theme, the model of Season 1 made sense, but it left the fans wanting for more as it lacked the essential markings that had helped ‘Game of Thrones’ audience at the beginning of the show when they were still new to locations like Winterfell, King’s Landing, and more. The progress in HOtD’s Season 1 opening sequence was lost in translation as sigils (rather unfamiliar to the audience) took precedence over actual words. But the second season rectifies that mistake.
Season 2 uses the Bayeux Tapestry style to recreate the history of the House Targaryen, which makes it much more accessible to the audience, not to mention much more aesthetic than the stone and blood texture of the previous model. The tapestry moves with the threads, as they seep in blood, and starts from the Doom of Valyria and, much like Season 1, moves through the Targaryen dynasty, focusing on the important events of their history. More importantly, it dedicates more time to the ongoing civil war between the Greens and the Blacks, with the color representation taking precedence. Like every other episode of GoT and HOtD, it is expected that the tapestry will be modified and updated with each episode.
According to ‘House of the Dragon’ showrunner Ryan Condal, the decision to change the opening sequence was made keeping in mind the conflict at the heart of the story. The first season was more about introducing the Targaryen bloodline, informing the audience about who is connected to whom and how, and focusing on the expansion of their house while hinting at their fall. Now that the audience is familiar with the family dynamics and more informed about the family line, the focus shifts towards the war they have landed themselves in. The creators of the show wanted something “more dramatic” while evolving the title sequence to make it more dynamic. The idea was also to focus more on the “living history” and tell it like a story being told through time, underlining the true impact that this brutal and bloody war had on Westeros.
The choice of the tapestry is also interesting as it serves as a throwback to Helaena Targaryen’s words in Season 1, where she prophecizes the war between the Greens and the Blacks. She uses the words “dragons of flesh weaving dragons of thread.” In a way, the opening sequence fulfills her words as we see dragons of thread being elaborately woven to mimic the events she has already spoken of.
Read More: What Will Happen to Rhaenyra and Alicent’s Kids in House of the Dragon?
