SPOILER alert:This story contains spoilers for HBO’s “House of the Dragon” Season 2 finale, titled “The Queen Who Ever Was,” now streaming on Max.
After wandering the corridors of Harrenhal and being haunted by ghosts from his past for the majority of the season, Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) has a different vision in the “House of the Dragon” Season 2 finale — one that ultimately convinces him to reaffirm his full allegiance to his wife/niece, Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy).
In this vision, brought by Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) and a weirwood tree, Daemon is offered a glimpse into the future: He sees flashes of himself drowning, dead dragons, a White Walker leading an army of wights and Daenerys Targaryen (played by Emilia Clarke in “Game of Thrones”) with her three baby dragons.
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Many viewers speculated that this vision of Daenerys finally settled a long-standing debate from the original series: that she is the Prince That Was Promised, not Jon Snow (Kit Harington). However, “House of the Dragon” showrunner and co-creator Ryan Condal said that image was not intended to answer the burning question of who is the prophesied savior.
“We are not trying to make any kind of specific interpretation of a prophecy that has yet to be revealed by its author. That is George [R.R. Martin]’s world, and George’s space to tell that story,” Condal said in a press conference on Monday. “We’re more interested in playing with the character drama that lives in and around that imagery.”
“Game of Thrones” is based on Martin’s still-incomplete book series “A Song of Ice and Fire.” On the show, it was suggested that Jon Snow was the Prince That Was Promised, but many fans have theorized that it’s Martin’s eventual intention to bestow Daenerys with that title — if he ever finishes the series.
Condal reiterated that Daenerys’ appearance was a way of capturing the interconnectivity between the different generations of House Targaryen, as “there are no dragons left in the world until they’re reborn to Daenerys.”
“‘House of the Dragon’ is a prequel story to this very famous story — one of the biggest, if not the biggest television story of all time,” Condal said. “And because so many years have passed, there are really no characters that would be alive from our time period that exists in the subsequent series.”
He added: “We know who that is watching that image, [but] Daemon has no idea. That could be his future daughter with Rhaenyra who has three dragons born. He doesn’t know, but he is sensing that this was something that was shown to me for a specific reason.”
Aside from Daenerys and a White Walker, Daemon sees another figure connected to “Game of Thrones”: Brynden Rivers (Joshua Ben-Tovim), also known as Lord Bloodraven.
Brynden is the bastard son of King Aegon IV Targaryen, meaning he is born several decades after the Dance of the Dragons. He eventually becomes the Three-Eyed Raven (played by Max von Sydow in “Game of Thrones”), who teaches Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright) how to use his supernatural abilities.
“The Easter egg of Bloodraven felt very fitting here — and earned in a sense — because he is a Targaryen who we know goes on to do strange and wonderful things,” Condal said, noting Brynden’s relationship with the weirwoods. “And if there’s anybody that Daemon would be able to see that would connect him to Daenerys, it would be him.”
As for why it was important for Daemon to see the Song of Ice and Fire prophecy rather than simply hearing it, Condal said, “I think it’s the kind of real thing that Daemon needed to be able to hang his hat on.”
“Daemon’s decision to bend the knee, swear again to Rhaenyra, reaffirm his loyalty to her — one event doesn’t lead to that. It’s a confluence of factors. It’s a whole complicated equation that he experienced over the course of the season that led him to that point,” he continued. “We were really interested in humbling Daemon, for lack of a better word, over the course of the season to bring him to a place where he’s more evolved and in many ways, at least to his enemies, more dangerous, because now we have a very focused Daemon with a singular goal, which is put Rhaenyra on that throne.”
During the Aug. 5 press conference —the morning after the Season 2 finale — Condal also revealed that “House of the Dragon” will come to an end with its fourth season.
