#house of the dragon theories

[whitegownsandflowercrowns]

Theories I’ve Seen About HOTD Season 2 Rated

Rhaenyra will be the one to order Blood & Cheese but Daemon will take the fall for it, both immediately and to be remembered by history. 9/10. There is something about this theory that I just absolutely love. Maybe it’s the idea of Rhaenyra taking explicit action, maybe it’s the fact that it’s something that would cast her in a genuinely morally dubious light, maybe it’s just that one face Emma D’Arcy made in the trailer that made it look like Rhaenyra was ready for absolute murder. No matter what I think this is an intriguing theory that could very well happen.

Helaena will turn to Team Black. 5/10. The reason that this is exactly in the middle is because there are one or two right ways to do this…and about fifty million wrong ways to. You know what I would be down for? Helaena, who knows the pain of losing a son, cannot defend the way her family keeps justifying Lucerys’ death to herself, right as Baela and Rhaena realize that they are going to get tossed over for Rhaenyra’s sons no matter what happens. The girls team up and burn some shit down. Very unrealistic but I would love it.

Nettles will be replaced by Rhaena. -10/10. Please, please no, I am begging y’all not to do this. At best we’re taking away an interesting character, at worst we are turning Daemon into something he is very much not (and I say this as someone who hates the man).

Helaena is pregnant with/will give birth to Maelor. 8/10. This seems likely, and I am also begging for it to happen because I really don’t like the implications of a Maelor-less B&C…

Aegon & Aemond will fight over Helaena. 1/10. Please, no, I hate this. Feels very reductive towards all three of their characters.

Rhaenys will die this season. 8/10. Given the timeline this seems very likely. Her scenes in the trailer gave me some “wise mentor giving last bits of advice” vibes, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this is what leads to…

Rhaenyra goes completely mad this season. 7/10. The only reason this is rated slightly lower is because I agree with a lot of people that Rhaenyra’s death will be pushed back as far as possible, probably into the final season. Depending on how “mad queen” she goes, that could lead to a lot of viewers being frustrated with her, and I don’t see the writers going so hard so early. But I think we’ll at least start to see slips in judgment later in the season.

Otto Hightower dies. 8/10. This is absolutely something I can see happening in the season finale (we did have that clip in the teaser of Daemon seemingly beheading someone). This is the way I can see the show going “the Dance is getting really serious now.”

[reagan10108]

Trigger warning sexual/rape/incest

It’s the world of Game of Thrones so automatically be warned

House of the dragons spoilers

So I have a theory well technically three theories, and I am going to be telling you guys about it. It’s about second season of House of the Dragon. so I watch the trailer many times and some theories just came to mind.

The first theory is so alys in the trailer is seen to be the new lover of Aemond and I think she also had a sex scene with Daemon. So I have a theory connected to the scenes so in the books, she is rumored to be a witch and has practiced witchcraft before and she is also rumored to be a strong bastard and that’s ironic for Aemond. But anyways, I think she is the bastard daughter of Larys Strong and he ordered his daughter to manipulate and get into his bed and make him fall in love with her to manipulate him, and I can actually see that I can see him taking advantage and being manipulative and he also might ask her also to sleep with Daemon. I don’t know. I think he might do it. Tell me what you guys think?

The second theory is when Daemon and Rhaenys went to KingsLanding they went at the time of blood and cheese and Daemon wanted to teach his nephew a lesson for what he did and he raped his nephews lover to teach him a lesson I wouldn’t put it past him to do it because Daemon is just very unpredictable. That’s just his personality. So you guys can tell me what you think about my theory, but I can see that happening as another form of revenge.

The third is alys was hired by Aemond to distract his uncle. you guys can tell me what you think about my theories don’t be shy you can talk to me.

[alannacouture]

Okay, I just want to talk about this. There are only TWO times we see Rhaenys wearing a hairpiece (or a CROWN, if you will). The first is at her son’s wedding. The wedding where he is marrying the daughter of the man who one could accuse of usurping Rhaenys’ throne and said son’s birthright to eventually sit on his mother’s throne. And not only is he marrying Rhaenys’ replacement’s daughter, he’s marrying the young woman who is being given the throne Rhaenys was denied BECAUSE of her gender, while her son’s fiancée has already been named heir DESPITE her gender.

The next time Rhaenys wears a hairpiece (or CROWN) is to inform Rhaenyra the Iron Throne is being usurped by a younger, male relative. She is also wearing it when Rhaenyra is officially crowned Queen, a title The Queen That Never Was very obviously was denied. 

There is no way it is a coincidence that Rhaenys Targaryen, The Queen That Never Was, wears a crown to her son’s wedding to the female heir to the Iron Throne & wears a crown to the abrupt coronation of the first leading Queen of Westeros. I’m not going to make any conclusions, other than the fact that HOTD’s costume department is full of geniuses & Rhaenys Targaryen is a BAMF to walk into King’s Landing in a crown, then watch Rhaenyra’s coronation in a crown (while not bending the knee). The woman is truly a queen, whether she ever sat on the Iron Throne or not. 🙇‍♀️👑🙇‍♀️ New Addition: So I was rewatching the first episode and happened to notice that Rhaenys wore a hairpiece a third time on the show. When? Oh, just during the Great Council, when she’s basically usurped by Viserys, her younger, male relative. Seriously, the costume department are geniuses. Having Rhaenys only wear crowns when she’s making a direct statement about her superiority to sit on the Iron Throne and each time, she never made it there, is brilliant. The woman’s a Queen, no matter what her nickname says.

[sapphirehearteyes]

During Aegon II’s crowning ceremony I’m fascinated by Helaena’s inability to look in Aegon’s direction. So much so that she had completely turned herself away towards her brother Aemond.

What is the symbolism here?? (Besides the obvious)

I’m sure she understands Aegon will be a terrible king. But.

Does she possibly see the turmoil that will come?

What is going through her mind???

I’m very pro-helaemond but I think there was more to it than her love for Aemond…

I’ve also been curious as to how much Helaena understands her visions, but nonetheless she seems to grasp the “wrongness” of the events transpiring

I need answers/theories!

[daenerysthefirst]

HotD prediction: They will give us Helaena x Aemond and Maelor is going to be Aemond's son. It would make Helaena choosing Maelor during Blood and Cheese scene even more heartbreaking (as he would be a product of love).

[where-theres-smoak-2]

HOTD Ep 8 Predictions/Theories

I can’t believe we are at ep 8 already this series has gone by so quickly, but once again I am going to channel my inner Helaena and see if I can predict the future. Said it before but for the sake of clarity I am not a book reader so all of my theories are based on what has happened in the show and the promos and stills that were released. So here is what I think may happen in the next episode. 

Successions and Alliances

It looks like from the promo that we are going to have two characters in bad health and potentially dying, Viserys and Corlys, which honestly I am so not ready for. I do feel like this episode is going to focus alot on succession both for the iron throne and for the driftwood throne and I do think both story points will be connected.  

So lets focus on Viserys and the Iron Throne first. The promo opens with Otto on the throne saying ‘as hand I speak with the king's voice on this and all other matters.’ We also get this shot of Rhaenyra and Daemon:

Where Rhaenyra says ‘those vipers rule in my father’s name’ and Daemon replies ‘to King’s landing then.’ I do think there is going to be alot more to this conversation, but what we have here tells us what we need to know, the king is incapacitated and now the Greens are ruling in his stead. The obvious thing to do here as heir to the throne is to go to King’s Landing. 

I do think the greens are going to use the King being out of the game to their advantage though. Which brings me to the driftwood throne. We learn through Daemon that Corlys has been gravely wounded, I actually think the image above could well also be when Daemon tells Rhaenyra that Corlys is wounded and this contributes to them going to King’s Landing. We also get a clip of Vaemond asking Rhaenys who will take the driftwood throne. There are also these stills that show a heated conversation between them whilst Rhaenys is sitting on the driftwood throne:

I suspect this conversation will happen with Corlys injured but still alive, as Rhaenys is not dressed in black but in blue, and its the characters wondering what will happen if he dies. I also think Rhaenys will be ruling Driftmark in her husband’s stead whilst he is incapacitated much like Otto is with the Iron throne. Baela is present and we know from ep 7 that whilst Corlys wants Lucerys to be his heir and inherit Driftmark, Rhaenys wants Baela to be heir as she has Velaryon blood and Luc does not. It is possible that when Vaemond asks who will inherit Rhaenys, despite her husband’s wishes, tells him that Baela will inherit. Needless to say I think this is going to make Vaemond angry, with him calling out Rhaenyra at the funeral I think Vaemond will consider himself as having the most legitimate claim to Driftmark. I think we will end up with three separate claims, Rhaenys putting forth Baela, Vaemond putting forward himself and Rhaenyra putting forth Lucerys. I also think the dispute will be taken to King’s Landing and Otto will preside over it and make a decision on behalf of the king. I also feel like it is going to get very messy with insults thrown about and drama galore. What I am curious about is Baela here. She appears to be the only one of the children at Driftmark which makes me wonder whether she was already there and has been living there a while or whether she was at Dragonstone with the rest of the family but when they heard of Corlys’ injury she travelled to Driftmark at her grandmother’s request. It is also interesting that she is dressed in blue here when all of her siblings are shown in the red and black colours of house Targaryen. Is it possible that there is some tension between Baela and her family? Maybe she suspected Rhaenyra and Daemon had something to do with her uncle’s ‘death’ or maybe she just couldn’t accept her father getting married again so soon after her mother’s death and so she went and moved in with her grandparents? I hope not because I would love for all five of their kids to be close and the four older kids did seem to bond in episode 7, I would also like for them to be close to both parents. I just like the idea of the blacks being one big happy family. Of course her wearing blue could just be Rhaenys way of presenting her connection to House Velaryon, if she is going to present Baela as a potential heir then it makes sense to put her in the house colours to remind everyone Baela has Velaryon blood. 

I do think that Vaemond is going to make a deal with the greens to get Driftmark. Giving such a powerful seat to someone outside of Rhaenyra’s family would be a huge blow to the Blacks. The deal could be that if he supports Aegon’s claim to the throne then they will give him Driftmark in return. Part of the reason why I think this might happen is because in ep 7 during the dagger scene we see Vaemond standing close to Alicent maybe indicating he will be on team Green. Also in this shot of Vaemond from the throne room Vaemond looks really smug as does Aegon:

Meanwhile Rhaenyra looks really angry here:

Another reason why I think they will be working together is because we get a shot in promo of Vaemond arriving in King’s Landing and he is accompanied by guards bearing the Hightower sigil with the green flames of war:

So I think that Otto will name Vaemond heir to Driftmark and this is what he is referring to when he says ‘as hand I speak with the king’s voice on this and all other matters.’ I also do wonder if he will also declare Aegon heir to the throne and that’s another reason why Aegon looks so smug, but I don’t know if that would be too bold even for Otto. 

I don’t think the greens and Vaemond will be the only ones making a deal. We get these shots of Rhaenyra and Rhaenys in the gods wood.

In this scene Rhaenyra tells Rhaenys that ‘this is a trap’. I don’t think Rhaenys would be happy with Vaemond getting Driftmark instead of someone with her and her husband’s blood. Also Rhaenys can be heard in the trailer saying ‘tomorrow the Hightowers land their first blow.’ I think by this point Rhaenyra and Rhaenys will have guessed that the greens and Vaemond are working together and this is what Rhaenys is referring to by first blow, taking Driftmark from the blacks by naming Vaemond heir. In the image of Vaemond arriving that I talked about earlier you can see the shoulder of Lucerys in the shot, there is this image which I think is from the same scene:

I think Lucerys and it looks like maybe Jace too will see Vaemond arriving with the Hightower guards and mention it to their mother who will put two and two together and that’s how she’ll figure out the Greens have formed an alliance with Vaemond.

I said in my review for ep 7 when talking about the disagreement between Corlys and Rhaenys about who should be his heir that the simplest solution would be to marry Baela to Lucerys that way their heirs will have both the Velaryon name from Luc and the Velaryon blood from Baela. I do think that Rhaenyra will offer something like this to Rhaenys with the argument that it will make their claim for Driftmark stronger. But I am not sure it’ll be Baela she will offer a marriage between and the reason why is because in this scene Rhaena is also present.

If it were a marriage proposal between Baela and Lucerys then I would think that it would either be Rhaenyra and Daemon approaching Rhaenys or Rhaenyra and Baela. With it being Rhaenyra and Rhaena approaching her I am thinking that it is actually going to be Rhaena’s hand in marriage to Lucerys that Rhaenyra offers. Maybe they will also match Jacaerys and Baela together presenting the deal of you’ll have Rhaena for your Velaryon blood on Driftmark and then you will also have Velaryon blood on the throne as Baela will be Jace’s queen consort when he takes the Iron Throne which is a pretty good deal for Rhaenys. It just makes sense to me, the moment I saw the four of them together in ep 7, I was like two sons, two daughters I bet they’ll wed them to each other. As to why I think they will offer Rhaena’s hand for Driftmark instead of Baela’s despite it being Baela that Rhaenys wants, I think that is strategic. Rhaenyra knows that there is a strong possibility that there will be a war when her father dies and that they will have a better advantage the more dragons they have. So it make sense to me for Rhaenyra to surround herself with as many dragons and dragon riders as she can. I can imagine tensions are a bit shaky with the Velaryons after Laena and Laenor’s deaths, I don’t think that Daemon or Rhaenyra would want to lose not just one dragon and rider to Driftmark but two. As it is at the moment (unless she has claimed or gained a dragon in the timejump) Rhaena doesn’t have a dragon so if she goes to Driftmark they aren’t losing a dragon. However if Baela does then they will lose two dragons instead of just the one (Luc’s dragon). At the moment the Hightowers have three dragons, including the biggest. The Velaryons have two if Seasmoke stayed and didn’t disappear with Laenor. If Luc inherits Driftmark and goes over to them then that’s three like the Hightowers. The blacks however (if Luc goes to Driftmark) have at least five if Joffrey’s egg hatched which I am going to assume it did. So even if Luc goes to Driftmark they have an advantage over both the Hightowers and Velaryons. However if Luc and Baela were to marry and then go to Driftmark that would give the Velaryons potentially four dragons, if they were to then betray Rhaenyra and side with the greens, that would give the greens a huge advantage with 7 dragons. I personally don’t think they would side with the greens but I could see Rhaenyra making a contingency plan just in case. Proposing a marriage between Baela and Jace and Luc and Rhaena would not only secure the alliance between the two houses but would make sure the dragons and riders were on the blacks side as well, it would give them potentially 8 dragons if not more. 

Dragon Egg Hunt

Speaking of how important dragons will be in the upcoming fight we can see from promo pics that Rhaenyra and Daemon are expecting a little one:

We know that its a Targaryen tradition to put an egg in the baby’s cradle. However we don’t know much about the ownership of dragons and their eggs. Rhaenyra does offer an egg to Alicent for Aemond if her Dragon Syrax laid another clutch which to me suggests that when it comes to the eggs whoever the laying Dragon belongs to also then owns the eggs they’ve laid so in Syrax’s case because she is Rhaenyra's dragon any egg she lays belongs to Rhaenyra. But what happens if your dragon hasn’t laid an egg and you’ve got a babe on the way, in this case I am going to assume that you would appeal to the crown or someone else who has a dragon that has laid eggs. We know that there is another dragon that has laid eggs in the past, Dreamfyre, as it was one of her eggs that Rhaenyra chose for her brother Baelon and that was the egg Daemon stole. It also seemed at the time that Dreamfyre belonged to the crown but I did see a post that said Helaena is now bonded to Dreamfyre. I could see a situation arising in this episode where Rhaenyra and Daemon appeal to the crown for a dragon’s egg to put in their child’s cradle but because the King is incapacitated and the Green’s are in control and obviously wouldn’t want the Blacks to have yet another dragon, they deny the appeal. However we know that if Daemon wants his child to have a dragon egg in their cradle as is the tradition of his house he is damn well going to make sure they do. So I suspect Daemon is going to go on a dragon egg hunt. There is this shot of Daemon holding an egg in this weeks promo:

There is also this shot from the, I think, weeks ahead trailer that shows someone scaling down the side of a cliff and I am pretty sure that it is Daemon:

My theory is that after being denied an egg by the greens he uses the knowledge he got from those books he was reading written by old dragon riders that Laena mentioned in ep 6 and discovers the location of a possible egg, maybe in one of the dragon rider’s journals they recount a tale of their dragon possibly laying a clutch of eggs somewhere and Daemon decides to risk life and limb because his baby will have a dragon’s egg. Who knows maybe they’ll be two there and he’ll bring one back for Rhaena too. 

Another possibility is that this is Syrax’s egg and she just decided to lay it in the most inconvenient spot she could and so Daemon has to go rock climbing to get it.  

Armed To The Teeth

I do think it is possible that things are going to get violent in King’s Landing over this dispute about the heir to Driftmark and just in general between The Greens and The Blacks. The only way Vaemond can put forth a claim for the Driftwood throne is by discrediting Lucerys’ claim and the way to do that is by once again bringing up the question of Rhaenyra’s sons parentage. Daemon is very protective of his family particularly of people talking bad about his family as we saw when he told Corlys that he could speak of his brother as he wishes but Corlys will not. So I don’t think Daemon is going to take kindly to people bringing up this issue again even more so now that its his wife and stepsons they are talking about. Daemon clearly was anticipating trouble too because in several of the images he is armed to the teeth. Like I think he has at least three blades on him and who knows what other weapons he might be hiding where you can’t see, he seems like the kind of guy who would keep one in this boot just in case. The other thing worth noting is that not only has he shown up with several weapons but that his hands are never far from them, in several of the shots he’s got his hands kind of cupped near the hilts of his blades. It just seems to me that from the moment they arrive in King’s Landing he is in protective mode and is on edge, prepared for anything.  

Also in this still, his hand isn’t just near his weapon it is on the blade ready to draw. Daemon looks angry to me and Rhaenyra looks both shocked and upset. Meanwhile Jace also looks tense and is side eyeing Daemon clearly wondering what he is about to do. I suspect from Rhaenyra’s shocked expression and Daemon’s angry one that someone has just thrown an insult either at Rhaenyra herself or at one of her sons. 

I do think the situation will only escalate from there as in this still Daemon has drawn Dark Sister:

Also the King’s Guard behind him have their hands on their swords which makes me wonder if Daemon has threatened whoever insulted Rhaenyra or/and her boys. I suspect the person who may have insulted her is Vaemond giving how he was at Laena’s funeral. The thing is bringing up the boys parentage is a risky move on Vaemond’s part and just as risky is the Green’s entertaining it and considering Vaemond’s claim instead of just throwing it out because they themselves by entertaining it are also saying that they doubt their parentage. The problem with this is that the King in ep 7 publicly stated that anyone questioning their birth would have their tongue removed, basically it is treason to question their legitimacy. So this makes it clear to me that the King is like on his death bed and the Greens clearly don’t think he is going to recover otherwise they wouldn’t be risking bringing this up again. However I think Viserys is going to surprise them all by showing up as things are getting ugly. We have this shot of Viserys entering the Throne Room looking the worse for wear:

I think Viserys will be laying down the law like he did in ep 7 and once again reminding everyone that they are not to question Rhaenyra’s sons legitimacy. In this image you can see the Greens and all but Alicent seems to be looking over to Viserys and look like they’ve just been chastised.

Alicent is looking down and away clearly avoiding making eye contact with Viserys so that makes me think she knows they are in a bit of trouble here. I also think Viserys will overturn Otto’s decision to name Vaemond heir to Driftmark and will name Lucerys instead as he won’t consider the claim that Lucerys is illegitimate valid. I don’t know if he will enforce punishment on Vaemond or not for questioning the birth of the princes as he said anyone speaking out would be punished but Viserys isn’t very good at enforcing his rules. But then I could see Daemon either pushing for Vaemond to be punished or just taking matters into his own hands and either removing Vaemond’s tongue or just outright killing him and then pleading that Vaemond committed treason and that he was just enforcing the King’s own laws. I just don’t see Daemon letting it go that easily. 

Family Dinner

It also looks like the Greens and the Blacks are going to be having a family dinner together.

 I don’t know if this happens before or after the throne room dispute but I can see this coming about through two ways. One could be that the Greens invite the Blacks to dinner as a faux peace offering claiming they want to mend the rift between them but are actually just lulling them into a false sense of security so they won’t suspect that they are planning to crown Aegon behind Rhaenyra’s back, because you can bet that’s exactly what they are planning to do. This could be an alternative reason why we see Rhaenyra telling Rhaenys ‘this is a trap’ maybe she is talking about the dinner.

Another possibility though is that it could be that Viserys realises that he is very close to death now and wants to try one last ditch effort to reunite the two sides of his family before he pops his clogs. He requests that both sides put aside their differences and share this meal together in good will to heal the rifts between them. In the promo we hear him say ‘the crown cannot stand strong if the house of the dragon remains divided’. I don’t think it is going to go so well though. For one thing Alicent and Rhaenyra could not be sitting further away from each other so it doesn’t look like they are going to be talking through their differences:

Also in the promo, I couldn’t get a good shot of it, but we see Jace slam his hands on the table and rise out of his chair and Aegon is standing right behind him so I suspect Aegon has said something that has upset Jace:

There is also this shot of Aemond making a toast and judging from the smirk on his face I actually feel like there is going to be a veiled insult in there. 

I think throughout the whole meal we’ll just see quiet insults being whispered. I think the toast will come first and then Aegon will whisper something in Jace’s ear which will cause him to snap. So he slams his hands on the table and then rises to confront Aegon. We also have these shots where a fight clearly breaks out between the four boys. We can see who I think is Jace throwing a punch and Aemond whilst Aegon and Lucerys are in the background and then another shot of Aegon slamming one of the boys’ head into the table whilst Baela looks on in shock. 

I feel like at this point the parents must have left because I can not see them just standing by and letting them fight also what are these guards in the background doing because it doesn’t look like they are rushing in to break up the fight. 

Ghosts of the Past?

This image intrigues me because I can’t quite make out who it is. They are definitely both Targaryens though as one thing is clear and that is that they both have white hair, you have a male asleep in bed and then a woman approaching the bed. So here are a few options I can think of. One is that it is Daemon and Rhaenyra. Maybe Rhaenyra is struggling to sleep and so has gotten up to wander around the room. Maybe she has become so troubled that she decides to approach the bed to wake Daemon up and talk through her troubles with him. 

Another option is that it is Viserys in the bed and that Rhaenyra has snuck in to see her father and check on him. The only thing that makes me doubt that one is that surely there would be guards at the King’s door who would see Rhaenyra go in. Unless there is a secret passage that leads to his room too and Rhaenyra uses that to visit her father. 

The last possibility I can think of is a heartbreaking one. There is a good possibility that Viserys will die in this episode. I assumed the woman had to be Rhaenyra as she looks pregnant but what if this is Viserys last moments and as he is dying he imagined Aemma is there, that she has come to collect him in a way, Aemma still pregnant with their son. Or maybe he is having a flashback to a memory of her in his last moments, maybe a memory of when she was pregnant with Rhaenyra or with Baelon. I can just see Viserys thinking about Aemma at his end. 

The Whyte Wrym 

Now usually when I see someone in a hood like this I immediately assume its Daemon and that he is up to no good. It definitely could be Daemon as he does have a connection with Mysaria, maybe he wants information about someone and so he goes to Mysaria to get it. 

But there is another possibility here because in one of the trailers there is this shot of Aemond where he is wearing a black hood:

 So maybe they are trying to trick us here in the trailer by making us think its Daemon in his trouble making cloak because he’s the one we are used to seeing in the cloak when actually its Aemond with Mysaria. What he would want with her I am not sure. We know that Mysaria has a informant relationship with Otto, we saw her receive payment from the boy who told Otto about the brothel incident. So maybe Otto sent Aemond to talk to Mysaria about something? 

Anyway that is everything that I have got prediction wise. I am looking forward to the episode as always I am interested to see how the characters have developed and changed and what kind of dynamics they have with each other, especially with the kids now that they are older.  

[hotdaemondtargaryen]

THE CAST OF 'HOUSE OF THE DRAGON' REACTING TO HELAEMOND'S THEORIES:

AEMOND IS THE FATHER OF HELAENA'S KIDS.

> PS: "How do you feel about that?"

> TGC: "It pisses me off, actually. I'm so protective over my children. That would be so sad for Aegon. He loves them so much."

[darksvster]

okay i was asked to post this on tumblr since i posted a mini essay about it on twitter so here it is, i added some more examples and elaborated on my points that i couldn't over twitter.

so, when i first watched episode 207 i thought it was weird how religious rhaenyra was, until ryan condal mentioned the cult imagery. now i think instead of the show making her paranoid and neurotic in the final arc, they're going to make her more of a cult leader figure.

i think rather than leaning into her paranoia and the idea of a "hysterical paranoid mother" after she loses her sons, they're going to have her drink her own kool-aid more and more. it's interesting that this is what emma and ryan discuss in this scene with the dragonseeds in the inside the episode.

i think it's interesting that instead of the show positioning her like "a leader amongst the smallfolk," this episode positions her in a darker light, like someone who is manipulating the people there for her own goals. and when vermithor turns on the bastards, she doesn't let them run, the guards keep them barricaded in.

she is literally enraptured by the fire in these scenes. now that she knows it's possible for others to claim the dragons, she has been vindicated and wants more. this is not a merciful queen who is reaching out a hand to the smallfolk, she's throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks. after all, these are just smallfolk. bastards with no honor. ryan literally describes the scene as a ritual sacrifice.

and who do you conduct sacrifice for? the gods. but in this case, the gods the seven or the old gods, they aren't even just dragons, but the fact that rhaenyra sees herself in the dragons. she says as much in the literal pilot of the episode when viserys asks her what she sees when she looks at the dragons. she understands the power they wield.

she knows that their power lies in the dragons. but she doesn't reflect viserys' belief that they are a power that man never shouldn't have trifled with. she leans into the chaos and fire and blood of the dragons, we see that in the sowing, clearly.

rhaenyra inherited the worst of both viserys and daemon and that will lead to her madness. she's got viserys' strong belief in prophecy (one now exacerbated by her desperation).

we see that faith in the prophecy falter but never truly fade. rhaenyra has always taken is seriously, to the point that everything she's done this season is in response to the prophecy. her pacifism isn't just due to avoiding bloodshed. she makes it clear to jace that before plunging the realm into war she had to know there was no other option because of the burden of the prophecy.

even though daemon has never believed in prophecy or superstition. she's also got daemon's desire and lust for power and strength (something she confessed wanting specifically because daemon is a man when she was speaking to mysaria).

it's a great deconstruction of the chosen one archetype to have her drink this koolaid and believe herself the chosen one only to have that belief corrupt her. emma d'arcy speaks on this in their interview with gq when discussing rhaenyra's growing fanaticism.

I think something that has been happening for Rhaenyra throughout the series is a growing religious fanaticism. After her father’s death, there is this desire to be connected to him in some way. And losing him happens at the same moment as having her throne usurped. And so that thing that would have been such a direct connection to him is also stolen. So in lieu of that, there’s that searching [through] the histories. I think imagining that at some point her name will feature next to her father’s is in some way comforting, and I find it very moving to see a person who in grief has committed themselves to the history books. As the series goes on, I think we see her more and more invested in her faith. She returns to the old gods. I think all of these actions are in search of her right; the thing that she thought she had received from her father, she is looking for evidence again and again. And part of it, I’m sure, is a choice. I think sometimes in times of loss, we can choose the anchors that we are going to cling to, and her faith becomes one. But I think there’s a narcissism in it. I think her connection with her religion is about wanting to reinforce a divine right. And I think, looking at [episode] seven when this miracle takes place, and this man claims Seasmoke, I think she feels that it’s a gift from the gods. I think it’s what allows her to ride roughshod over Jace’s very legitimate concerns about his own status. I think it’s what allows her to stage a massacre, essentially. She feels that she is riding on the wings of her faith. But her faith, and her belief that she is the ruler that is supposed to sit on that throne, are completely enmeshed.

They continue:

What is going through Rhaenyra’s mind as she watches the Targaryen bastards be devoured and torched alive? I think she feels like a god. I think she feels super proud. I mean, I think it’s uncomfortable. I think there’s something, actually, also that ties into the religiosity — even being back in proximity to dragons, to that fire, is to somehow be living her birthright. To be soaking up the divine, somehow. And do you think that she feels as though the decision to essentially stage a massacre, as you say, is vindicated when the two new bastard dragonriders are found? Totally. Without a shadow of a doubt. I mean, it’s horrendous, but I think she is now this sort of emboldened fanatic, [and] I think she’s experiencing events within a far bigger timeline. She’s imagining the history books. And you know, what’s happening right in front of her is awful. But in 300-400 years, what will be documented is possibly a very short war; a huge civil war that was averted, that this was the first ruling queen, that this ruling Targaryen queen expanded the Targaryen’s ability to have dragons within their armoury.

emma's read on this supports what we see on screen when it comes to rhaenyra's newly found zealousness. the religious aspect could lead her to do things that might have been seen as atrocities by her. it could lead to mysaria abandoning her, her riders turning on her, and we would see more of that targ madness.

gods are mentioned several times in 207. first by addam, who says that the gods are calling him to greater things. rhaenyra has never been the extremely religious sort but, in this scene, she looks like she's had a moment of clarity.

importantly, rhaenyra doesn't know who addam's father is, or hugh's or ulf's. this is simply the first time in history that a non-targaryen (at least in her eyes) has claimed dragons. it's something that she believed impossible. it can feel like destiny to the desperate and she's been extremely desperate after losing daemon, rhaenys, and continuous loss after loss with no hope of recourse.

mysaria says that rhaenyra is lucky addam chose to bend the knee to her rather than himself. and her reply is that it is ordained. this religious vocabulary being used is intentional!

her complaint against the lowborn is that there is an ancient fealty from highborn houses. she essentially implies that bastards do not have honor. mysaria corrects her by pointing out that her legitimate half-brothers aegon and aemond aren't exactly delights, but that doesn't make rhaenyra see the light. instead she recognizes that there's fealty to be had from lowborn people too. the order of things have changed, as mysaria says, so she realizes that she can lift up people who have been historically stepped on and give power to the powerless, calling them her army of bastards.

but when jace calls this out, predicting that someone (perhaps hugh?) could lay claim to her throne if she legitimizes these bastards if not by name then by offering them the power of gods. obviously, jace's concern is real, his entire legitimacy lies on both viserys' past support and also the fact that he has a dragon of his own. if any bastard can claim one, what does that make him? but rhaenyra's response isn't logical. she believes that the throne is part of her and her son's destiny. their right.

for years, on some level, rhaenyra has believed that even though people have insulted her sons, they are full-blooded targaryens. she says herself that if she was a man she could father a dozen bastards, and as heir, she gives birth to three without hesitation. these aren't strongs or velaryons to her, her sons are targaryens.

but even when jace essentially begs his mother not to give commoners dragons, bringing up her past sins and pointing out his own struggle knowing that he's harwin strong's son, her response is somewhat cold. she says now that the gods have laid this in front of her and she has no choice.

the dragonkeepers call what she's doing blasphemy and note that it isn't the gods who brought the dragonseeds to her, but she herself has done that.

Dragonkeeper Elder: This is an abomination. You sent an Andal before a dragon. The judgment was delivered. Now you would send more. Rhaenyra: Ser Steffon Darklyn was the blood of the dragon. Dragonkeeper Elder: It was a blasphemy. He was no dragonlord. Neither are these. Rhaenyra: And yet the gods have set them before us. Dragonkeeper Elder: You have set them before yourself! The dragons are sacred; they are the last magic of Old Valyria in this sad world. They are not pieces on a board for the games of men. Our order will take no part in this.

to the dragonkeepers, she's using these bastards and dragons like chess pieces in her war. but to rhaenyra, who has seen addam claim seasmoke, it seems like this is a divine right — a sign from the gods. and that's proven again when hugh claims vermithor.

addam claiming seasmoke changed everything for her. she talks about claiming a dragon as a transformation, and, in many ways, this claiming has transformed her as well. she tells the dragonseeds that their purpose now is the end the hardships of war.

she paints a lovely image promising them peace at the end, but it is a wholly false image. with vermithor and silverwing now in her arsenal, there will be more suffering, more bloodshed. there are no promises of peace now that the war has been given to the dragons, not until everyone is dead. and if that happens, well, the gods willed it, not her.

in this moment, when she says "may the gods bless you" i have to wonder, is she talking about the seven? or the valyrian gods? or the dragons? i don't think she's fully in deep, but i can see the set up for a much darker storyline for rhaenyra rather than the book plot. every time her beliefs are proven or something impossible happens, that could reinforce her zealousness.

i have always said that rhaenyra is a combination of viserys and daemon, and i think that still. i think that she has both of their madnesses within her. as she loses more, the only thing she'll have to hold onto is that prophecy and the divine right she believes in now.

even this scene from the finale promo has over-the-top messiah, chosen apostles, last supper vibes. her saying "i have entrusted you with a power only few have known" as if she wasn't desperate for them and had no say in who the dragons chose. i love it!

honestly i'm totally here for it, i think it's an exciting direction to take. i don't think rhaenyra was always like this, she might have had the proclivity for it growing up under viserys' wing, but it's the war that's pushed her to this point. desperate people will turn to things like faith in order to guide them when the real world disappoints. i think it's a far more nuanced look at a sort of "madness".

and i'm here for the conflict that will happen with daemon as a result. i think daemon will be in direct opposition to this. he's NOT the type to follow cult leaders. this will be their conflict on top of the existing power struggles. this, to me, is far more interesting of a struggle as opposed to nettles causing romantic tension. this show has a tendency to lean away from harmful stereotypes about women. pitting woman against woman is one of them, as is the hysterical woman.

daemon dying for her could be a form of devotion, or perhaps even a command from a delusional rhaenyra who believes he will survive it. daemon could end up drinking the kool-aid too after the devastations of the war or simply realize that this is the last thing he can offer to someone who is too far gone to be saved.

THIS IS THE FIRE I WANT FOR RHAENYRA. this is the mad queen setup that we could have had! targ exceptionalism and completely going off the deep end as a way of coping with an unwinnable conflict. without viserys, without rhaenys, no one is there to temper the fire within her.

[lemonsharkgirlfriend]

everyone's joking about a lesbian love triangle being the focus of rhaenyra/alicent/mysaria's stories in hotd s3 but that will literally be what happens when mysaria acts to uphold and support the image of rhaenyra as queen (or rhaenyra's duty) and alicent is kept prisoner (or a hidden but unavoidable reminder of rhaenyra's love). and so the love triangle will serve to represent rhaenyra's internal conflict between love and duty

[wyldfell]

i'm so tired of the "haha hotd lesbian alicent > canon" argument. clown shit. it was possible for her to be both a bi icon and also not an inconsistent nothing character. whether or not she wanted to kiss rhaenyra when they were girls, she could've still been written with a spine and actual motivations and a sex life that didn't get treated as a punchline. do you know how hard rhaenicent toxic exes could have hit if the writing didn't insist on making her the fandom's punching bag? if sara hess didn't say with her own mouth that she needed to be "humbled"?? fuck that.

[whitegownsandflowercrowns]

Characters I Am Extremely Confident We’re Losing In Season 3

Massive F&B spoilers below the cut

Jace

Gwayne

Aemond

Daemon

Criston

Otto

Jason

Simon

Potential Season 3 Losses

Helaena

Joffrey

Mysaria

[witchthewriter]

Dany Targaryen who cannot have her own biological children but when she liberates Westeros she adopts so many orphans. She DOES break the wheel, she restores peace and even though she has lost people close to her, it doesn't stop her from loving her subjects.

She especially has a soft spot for women and children. She makes sure the children she rules over are always fed, with proper clothes and shoes.

They are all given a choice of schooling, boys and girls alike, children from all classes, cultures and backgrounds.

There is no more Iron Throne because Drogon still melted it down. Maybe her reign does begin with ashes ... but like a phoenix, her people rise.

[alannacouture]

The Catspaw Dagger

Since I can’t sleep, you guys are being gifted w a HOTD/GOT theory I just thought abt & now is stuck in my head. Since the catspaw dagger is literally written w the Conqueror’s vision of “A Song of Ice & Fire”, do you think it’s the only weapon capable of killing the Night King? (We’re going to have to look at the timeline chronologically, instead of when the shows came out. You’ll also have to forgive any book inaccuracies, as I’ve only seen the shows [& spend some time on GOT Wiki].) Bran specifically gifts Arya the dagger, despite knowing he could just wait for Jon & give it to him. I know GOT basically abandoned Bran’s ability to time travel, or whatever, but giving something so historically important to his sister, when Bran probably knew the origins of it, seems odd now. Especially when he discovers Jon’s a true Targaryen, he could’ve asked Arya for it back, gifting it to who many believed was “The Prince Who Was Promised”. Instead, he lets Arya keep it. So, if she hadn’t been armed w that dagger, could she have even killed the Night King? Is the fact that the prophecy is in the blade the reason she was able to at all? Or was Bran playing the long game, knowing 2 Targaryens (who both could be the prophesied Prince(ess)), plus Arya armed w the dagger, gave them a much better chance of defeating the Night King? Maybe anyone holding the dagger could kill him, but a Targaryen without the dagger would be able to as well? … Well, that’s where my head’s at right now. I hope everyone else is sleeping (or being more productive).

[okmcintyre]

I really don't go here, BUT: What if the story about Rhaenyra we hear in GoT is a fake....?

Alicent is already headed for a quiet life. If Rhaenyra wants that too, faking her death is the only realistic avenue for that to happen. No one would accept her stepping away, otherwise.

Maybe she fakes her own death. Maybe her son is even in on it. He tells the world that he watched her get eaten by a dragon, brings an empty box of remains back with him, and goes on to become the next ruler.

In the meantime: his mother fakes her death (just like her 'late' huband did). Rhaenicent finally get their happy ending together. The story comes full circle, with them quietly enjoying each other's company under a tree. HoTD finishes with a soft ending.

[ra-horakhty-art]

Dream fire with her children: Drogon, Rhaegal, Viserion.

Comission.

[sorinethemastermind]

If this is how you get into the puzzle house...

Then did Kpp'Ar make the secret chamber beneath the castle? And potentially the other secret passages?