Diksha Sundriyal
HBO’s ‘House of the Dragon’ follows the brutal civil war that broke apart the Targaeryn house, marking the end of an era for the dynasty that never quite recovered from the damage. While every episode brings more drama into the picture, it isn’t just the characters and the dragons tearing each other apart that adds to the story. The opening credits are just as important. The first season gave insight into the lineage of the Westerosi houses, while the second season used the Bayeux Tapestry to show the history of House Targaeryn and also depicted the events unfolding during the civil war. The third season’s opening credits take things up another notch, updating the design according to the events that have already transpired. SPOILERS AHEAD.
HOTD Season 3 Opening Credits Recaps the History of House Targaeryn
The opening credits of ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 3 are an evolving tapestry that changes with some of the most defining moments in the story. Notably, the music also shifts slightly, with war drums added at the beginning, signaling the proper start of a war that won’t end until everything is destroyed. Another change is the threads shooting upwards before they start weaving the tapestry. The story told by the designs begins with the taming of dragons by blood magic, Daenys’ dream, and the Doom of Valyria, Aegon’s Conquest, the major houses bending the knee, Maegor the Cruel’s death, and Jaehaerys becoming king with his wife, Alysanne, by his side.
Then comes the Great Council from Season 1, where Viserys was chosen king over Rhaenys, the Queen Who Never Was. Then comes the conflict of Aegon and Rhaenyra: one in King’s Landing, the other in Dragonstone, both crowned and claiming their right to be the ruler of Westeros. Then comes the tragic death of Rhaenyra’s son, Lucerys, which happened at the end of Season 1. The next design depicts the murder of Aegon and Haelaena’s son, Jaehaerys. The tapestry continues to depict the events of Rook’s Rest from Season 2. This was where Princess Rhaenys and her dragon, Meleys, met Aemond and his dragon, Vhagar, in battle.
It ended with her dying, while Aegon got caught in the supposed crossfire and ended up half-burnt and bedridden. It was a major loss for the Blacks, and for the Greens, it meant a change in leadership with Aemond officially becoming in charge as Prince Regent. Things become more interesting towards the end of Season 2, when a desperate Rhaenyra opens the claiming of dragons to the illegitimate Targaeryns. It leads to the claiming of Silverwing and Vermithor by Ulf and Hugh, respectively. Meanwhile, Laenor’s dragon, Seasmoke, is claimed by Corlys’ illegitimate son, Addam.
HOTD Season 3 Adds the Significant Events from Season 2 Into Opening Credits
While Rhaenyra is ready to put all the new dragons to use, Rhaena does the unexpected and claims the wild Sheepstealer. This, however, doesn’t come into the picture until the first episode of Season 3, in a particularly tragic manner. All these newly claimed dragons for Rhaenyra’s side appear in the final section of the tapestry, marking another pivotal event that rewrote the story in a major way. The repercussions of this event will be felt across the third and fourth seasons, which is symbolized by the flowing movement of the cloth. It hints towards turbulent times ahead.
Both the Blacks and the Greens will experience some major hits and sustaining heartbreaking tragedies that will push the war, as well as the Targaeryn dynasty, to an end. This dark future for the House of the Dragon is symbolized in the black Targaeryn sigil on a red background. With this, an entire recap of the Targaryen history so far is provided to the audience. However, as mentioned above, the tapestry is not set in stone. It is still evolving because the story of House Targaeryn is still unfolding. This means that as more seismic events take place, their scars will be imprinted in the weaves of the tapestry that will finish with the end of the Dance of the Dragons.
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