Daemon’s ‘House of the Dragon’ Finale Vision, Explained
Another even-numbered year, another season of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” spinoff series “House of the Dragon.” While the Season 2 finale did answer some of the audience’s big questions like “will Rhaena have a staring contest with the big Vale dragon” (yes) and “will Corlys beat the accusations of being a deadbeat dad” (no), it also contained some scenes that require a little more explanation to make sense.
One of those scenes is Daemon’s (Matt Smith) weirwood vision in the godswood at Harrenhal, the culmination of an arc that saw the King Consort tripping Harren-balls for five straight episodes. Though this vision formally ties the events of “House of the Dragon” to “Game of Thrones,” the significance doesn’t stop there. Here’s the real meaning of Daemon’s vision from the “House of the Dragon” Season 2 finale.
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What happened when Daemon touched the weirwood?
You asked; let’s go. Daemon tapped into the magical spy network of a semi-immortal prophet who hasn’t been born and yet experiences nonlinear time, and who makes it his duty to ensure the eventual survival of humanity against the White Walkers as determined by the Song of Ice and Fire as well as an ancient treaty forged between men and deer people on the island in Harrenhal’s lake.
Why. Why is Harrenhal like this?
Some places in Westeros are more magical than others. Harrenhal has a history of being one of those.
So Daemon touches the weirwood, taps into the literal unwound flow of time, and sees what? A guy in a tree?
That’s not just any guy in any tree. That is a younger version of the Three-Eyed Raven from “Game of Thrones.” “Thrones” never explained where the Three-Eyed Raven came from, but he’s about to become a hugely relevant character…just not in “House of the Dragon.” The Raven’s real name is Brynden “Bloodraven” Rivers, he won’t be born for another 44 years after the “House of the Dragon” era, and yes that silver hair means he is a Targaryen.
Wait, the Three-Eyed Raven is a Targaryen? Why didn’t anyone mention that?
It does seem like a weird thing to leave out, right? But yes, Brandon Stark’s all-seeing mentor and the OG enemy of the Night King was indeed a legitimized Targaryen bastard from the Riverlands. He was a spymaster, magician, and eventually the Hand of the King in the era of Westerosi history soon to be explored in HBO’s next “Thrones” show “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight.”
Three cheers for corporate synergy.
Oh, like you’ve never waited in theaters for the post-credit scene of a Marvel movie to find out who’s going to be in the next installment? It should be said that it’s unclear if this version of Bloodraven played by actor Joshua Ben-Tovim is the one who will appear in “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” but if they’re highlighting him this early it seems like a good guess.
So a guy from “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” is showing a guy from “House of the Dragon” what happens to all the guys in “Game of Thrones?”
Exactly. As the Three-Eyed Raven, Brynden Rivers/Bloodraven is responsible for ensuring that Aegon the Conqueror’s prophecy of The Song of Ice and Fire comes to pass, and making sure Daemon falls in line behind Rhaenyra is a part of that responsibility. The best way to make sure Daemon does that is to show him the full scope of the Targaryens’ destiny and his small, but important role in that story.
First, he shows Daemon the true enemy: a White Walker with an army of wights. It’s unclear if this White Walker is one from the future “Thrones” era or one from The Long Night, the ancient war between humans and White Walkers that led to humanity’s temporary victory and the construction of the Wall to keep any future incursions at bay (as long as nobody gives them an ice dragon). Either way, the army of the dead gets Daemon’s attention.
Okay, what about all the other dead stuff?
Considering how many dragons there are in “House of the Dragon” and the zero dragons there are at the beginning of “Game of Thrones,” it’s not a spoiler to say that at some point the Targaryen dragons die out. Daemon sees the end of the dragons alongside a grisly battle on the lakeshore, then falls forward into the depths of the lake himself. Is that a metaphor? Uh, sure. Let’s go with that.
This next part seems famili— holy crap is that DAENERYS?
Surprise, witch! Bet you thought you saw the last of her. That is in fact Daenerys Targaryen, who appears after images of the red comet seen in early Season 2 of “Game of Thrones” and her three dragon eggs in the fire. This is Bloodraven telling Daemon that one day, long after his death, another Targaryen will bring the dragons back to life and give humanity a fighting chance against the White Walkers.
Bit rude to not also show Jon Snow, whose Targaryen/Stark parentage make him the literal “song of ice and fire” but Bloodraven knows his audience, and Daemon is a Valyrian supremacist who would reject this entire concept if he knew everything came down to a brunette.
That’s incredibly fair. Next stop: Rhaenyra?
More like next stop: Helaena! Just in case Daemon didn’t get it before, another Targaryen prophet enters the dreamspace to give him the TL;DR version of Bloodraven’s point. “It’s only a story,” Helaena says, “and you are but one part in it.” This is the coolest and most lore-revealing part of the vision.
Why is Helaena so important?
Until now, Helaena’s prophetic powers have manifested as whispered asides that predict upcoming events like the “beast beneath the boards” referring to the dragon Meleys going full Godzilla in Season 1, Episode 9 and her fear of “the rats” referring to the assassins in Season 2, Episode 1. Helaena’s appearance in this vision suggests that she is substantially more powerful than anyone assumed, given her ability to use the weirwood network to contact Daemon and presumably communicate with other Targaryen dreamers like Bloodraven in the future.
This explains a lot about Helaena’s behavior this season, as her reactions to life-changing events like little Jaehaerys’ death and Aegon’s fall from Sunfyre have seemed subdued at best. But if Helaena is powerful enough to piggyback on Bloodraven’s mission, it’s possible she also experiences time the same way he (and eventually Bran) does — that is to say, everything, everywhere, all at once.
The last awesome thing about Helaena appearing in this specific vision is her own role in the Song of Ice and Fire. It’s a long-held fan theory that the three eggs Daenerys hatches came from a clutch laid by Dreamfyre, Helaena’s dragon. If true, it’s likely that Helaena already knows that, meaning that hundreds of years before Daenerys is born, Helaena has already fulfilled her role as the steward of Dreamfyre, the actual Mother of Dragons.
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