This article contains spoilers for The Dance of Dragons, the book House of the Dragon adapts
It’s safe to say my fellow writers and I are hooked on House of the Dragon, a prequel to the eight-season saga Game of Thrones. We know we’re not the only ones; the battle between half-siblings Rhaenyra and Aegon Targaryen II for the Iron Throne, also known historically as The Dance of the Dragons, has thousands of us glued to our screens every episode.
Like Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon quickly became a phenomenon and continuously broke records with its first season. Season 1 beautifully set the stage for the bloody civil war to come and introduced the realm’s key players. With season 2, we’ll finally see the Greens and the Blacks go head to head for the Iron Throne.
Both Rhaenyra and Aegon II have reason to claim the throne. Aegon II is the oldest son of King Viserys I and Alicent Targaryen (may I say I will always be grossed out that Viserys I married Rhaenyra’s childhood bestie) and royal succession traditionally follows the male line. However, Viserys I had already named Rhaenyra as his heir and never backed down after giving her that title, confusing deathbed prophecies aside. Does Rhaenyra ever become the queen as she was promised?
Rhaenyra becomes the queen, in a sense
Rhaenyra does become the queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Before you get to celebrating, Rhaenyra stans, I must note she sadly doesn’t hold onto the throne for long. I won’t get too into it (if you want a longer read, this article does a great job delving into who actually wins the Dance of Dragons) but Rhaenyra only rules for about six months.
With her sizable army and an abundance of dragons, Rhaenyra and the Blacks are able to press their advantage and take King’s Landing. Before Aegon II and the Greens fled, they emptied the kingdom’s treasury, effectively forcing Rhaenyra to raise taxes on the commonfolk. Her resulting decline in popularity causes a domino effect that eventually leads to her fleeing King’s Landing herself. When Aegon II returns to the throne, he has Rhaenyra’s reign struck from the history books so she was never recognized as a legitimate ruler.
I’m not sure how much of that story House of the Dragon will go through this season or how much will change on screen. One thing I do know is that I’ll be tuning in on June 16 with everyone else to see how things play out.
