This prequel series has been insanely helpful when it comes to filling in the "Game of Thrones" blanks. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the hanging plot threads, background details, and other unanswered questions from “Game of Thrones” that were answered or elaborated on in “House of the Dragon.”
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00:00Cyrax is growing quickly. She'll soon be as large as Caraxes.
00:03Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the hanging plot threads,
00:08background details, and other unanswered questions from Game of Thrones
00:12that were answered or elaborated on in House of the Dragon.
00:15Rhaenyra Targaryen, Princess of Dragonstone, and heir to the Iron Throne.
00:27He was no dragon.
00:30Fire cannot kill a dragon.
00:32Given that they're essentially living flamethrowers,
00:35it would make sense for dragons to be immune to fire.
00:38In Game of Thrones, many of us assumed that was the case.
00:42After all, Daenerys Targaryen asserts that fire cannot kill a dragon,
00:46and she herself is magically immune to fire.
00:49However, in House of the Dragon, we learn that dragons can be hurt by flames.
00:54At the Battle of Rook's Rest,
00:56Vhagar uses her fire breath against Aegon and his dragon Sunfyre,
01:00severely burning both of them.
01:02It could be that Vhagar's fire is especially strong,
01:05or it was merely Sunfyre's wings that were burned.
01:07And while Sunfyre's death has yet to be confirmed,
01:10it's safe to say that fire can, in fact, kill a dragon.
01:21Do people in the south follow the old gods?
01:25And now my watch begins.
01:28It shall not end until my death.
01:30When the Andals invaded Westeros, they brought with them their religion,
01:34the Faith of the Seven.
01:36While many people in the north continued to worship the old gods,
01:39most of the weirwood trees sacred to the old gods were cut down in the south.
01:43However, some of the trees remain, as do a few of their worshippers.
01:48House Blackwood follows the old gods,
01:51just one of the many reasons they and the Brackens don't get along.
01:54Their sigil even has a weirwood on it.
01:57Also, we wouldn't be surprised if Alice Rivers followed the old gods too.
02:02Drivel! All of it!
02:04The ghosts, the curses, the blasted weirwood bed, I'm done with it!
02:07Ah, yes, it is your way, is it not?
02:10When something does not please you, you run.
02:23Given how much both Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon are focused on civil wars,
02:28audiences have probably wondered if the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros
02:32ever fight foes from other lands.
02:34And the answer is yes!
02:35House of the Dragon depicts a conflict between House Velaryon and the Triarchy,
02:39an alliance of three of the Free Cities of Essos.
02:42The Free Cities in Westeros are in conflict over the Stepstones,
02:46a series of islands that once formed a land bridge between the two continents.
02:50The Triarchy also get involved in the Dance of the Dragons,
02:53with the Greens seeking their aid in breaking the Blacks' blockade of King's Landing.
02:57We will make an alliance with the Triarchy.
03:00I've had enough of this cursed blockade.
03:12Game of Thrones features only a few dragons,
03:14so there isn't a lot of dragon versus dragon combat.
03:17But House of the Dragon sees the Targaryen dynasty
03:20involved in an epic civil war with dragons on both sides.
03:23Each dragon is unique, and their sizes can vary quite a bit.
03:27A smaller dragon might try to use aerial agility to its advantage against a bigger foe.
03:32In battles between large dragons, however,
03:35they'll lock claws and attempt to bite, burn, and tear at each other.
03:39This terrifying death spiral is a sight to behold from the ground,
03:42and cannot be comfortable for the riders either.
03:54Okay, look, we know this was answered in Game of Thrones.
03:57However, it's a question that still seems to pop up,
04:00and House of the Dragon makes the answer ever more definitive.
04:04Daenerys Targaryen is fireproof.
04:06In the show, in the books,
04:08she only survives the birth of her dragons as a one-time thing.
04:12But in the show, she's not the only Targaryen to be fireproof.
04:16In the books, she's the only Targaryen to survive the birth of her dragons.
04:20She only survives the birth of her dragons as a one-time thing.
04:23The show makes her permanently fireproof.
04:26In contrast, her brother Viserys and Jon Snow are both burned on screen.
04:31Somehow, some fans have remained convinced
04:34that fire is a non-issue for members of House Targaryen.
04:37Hopefully, Aegon's armor getting turned into an oven by Vhagar
04:41gets the message across that Targaryens might be heat-resistant,
04:44but not immune, just like dragons.
04:49But I cannot say.
04:51Now, if you'll excuse me, Your Grace, these next hours are most critical.
04:58Once they're fully bound to you,
04:59they will refuse to take instruction from any other.
05:02Daenerys Targaryen either cared for her dragons personally,
05:06locked them up, or just let them do their own thing.
05:08However, in House of the Dragon,
05:10we learn that there used to be a specialized order called Dragon Keepers
05:14dedicated to keeping dragons happy and fed.
05:16Educated in High Valyrian,
05:18the Dragon Keepers assist in training dragons and hatching eggs.
05:22Although we have to question how useful their staffs are
05:25in wrangling these fire-breathing beasts,
05:26there's no questioning their devotion to their charges.
05:32I wanted to be here, when you saw it for the first time.
05:36By the time of Game of Thrones,
05:38the Night's Watch is a shadow of its former self.
05:41Its few recruits are prisoners, debtors, and bastards,
05:45with barely enough strength to man a few castles,
05:47much less the whole wall.
05:49In House of the Dragon,
05:50the Night's Watch is a shadow of its former self.
05:53Its few recruits are prisoners, debtors, and bastards,
05:56with barely enough strength to man a few castles,
05:58much less the whole wall.
06:00In House of the Dragon,
06:02Cregan Stark explains that for thousands of years,
06:05doomed men were sent to the Wall.
06:07However, Cregan's ancestor Torrhen,
06:09the last king of the North, started a new tradition.
06:12Each winter, he would send a tenth of his men to the Watch.
06:16Aegon the Conqueror united Westeros in Torrhen's time,
06:19so perhaps in the peace that followed,
06:21there were fewer doomed men to go around.
06:24The Night's Watch is the only thing standing between the realm
06:28and what lies beyond,
06:30and it has become an army of undisciplined boys and tired old men.
06:49Given how much ground dragons can cover,
06:51viewers of Game of Thrones probably wondered about the Targaryens
06:54and their dragons exploring north of the Wall.
06:57However, in another revelation delivered by Cregan Stark,
07:00he recounts that when King Jaehaerys I and his wife Alysanne visited the Wall,
07:04their dragons refused to cross the massive fortification.
07:07Some of the most powerful things in the world of Westeros
07:11are frightened of what lies beyond the Wall,
07:13and maybe they were right to be scared.
07:15We all remember what happened when Daenerys' dragons
07:18first fought the White Walkers.
07:27Game of Thrones features only three dragons,
07:29and only two Targaryens ride them.
07:31But we still wondered, especially after the finale,
07:35could a dragon whose rider died be ridden by someone else?
07:38In House of the Dragon,
07:40we find out that it's not a dragon,
07:42it's a dragon riding a horse.
07:43The horse is a dragon riding a horse,
07:46and the horse is a dragon riding a horse.
07:48The horse is a dragon riding a horse,
07:50and the horse is a dragon riding a horse.
07:53The horse is a dragon riding a horse,
07:55In House of the Dragon,
07:56we learn that this is apparently all too common.
07:59Dragons have incredibly long lifespans,
08:02so they frequently outlive their riders.
08:04In fact, Vhagar, the oldest living dragon of that period,
08:08has had four riders.
08:10Bonding with a dragon that has lost its rider can be done,
08:13though the difficulty in doing so
08:15depends on the dragon and the rider.
08:25Given that Daenerys's three dragons
08:27seem to be the last in the world,
08:29Game of Thrones fans were naturally curious
08:31where their eggs came from.
08:32We find out in House of the Dragon.
08:35The three eggs were hatched by Syrax, Rhaenyra's dragon.
08:38They're then collected by Daemon from the nest.
08:41However, once the Dance of the Dragons heats up,
08:44the three dragons are forced to part ways.
08:46In House of the Dragon,
08:48we learn that Daenerys's three dragons
08:49were hatched by Daemon from the nest.
08:52However, once the Dance of the Dragons heats up,
08:54Rhaenyra sends the eggs,
08:56along with her two youngest children,
08:57to the Vale of Arryn,
08:58with Pentos being their ultimate destination.
09:01That's fitting, since it was in Pentos
09:03that Dany first received her dragon eggs.
09:05Dragon's eggs, Daenerys,
09:08from the Shadowlands beyond Asshai.
09:11The ages have turned them to stone,
09:14but they will always be beautiful.
09:16Number 10.
09:17Were the Targaryens the only house to escape the Doom?
09:20Aren't you afraid of the Doom?
09:22No.
09:23No?
09:26The pirates are.
09:27We hear about the Doom of Valyria several times in Game of Thrones.
09:31400 years before the show takes place,
09:33catastrophic volcanic eruptions destroyed Valyria.
09:37Most citizens and dragons perished,
09:39but the Targaryens knew to flee
09:41thanks to one of them having a prophetic dream.
09:43We assumed while watching the original series
09:46that they were the only house to do so,
09:47but that's not the case.
09:49House Velaryon's origins reach back to Old Valyria.
09:55More ancient even than House Targaryen,
09:59according to some texts.
10:01House of the Dragon features the Velaryons,
10:03another family of Old Valyria,
10:05who actually arrived in Westeros before the Targaryens.
10:08Although the Velaryons are mentioned in A Song of Ice and Fire,
10:12they only play a small role
10:14as a house that supports Stannis Baratheon,
10:16so they were left out of the adaptation.
10:18They'll bend the knee or I'll destroy them.
10:20Number 9.
10:21Why did Aegon conquer Westeros?
10:23Many decisions on Game of Thrones are made out of a desire for power.
10:28We're told that Aegon Targaryen,
10:30who conquered Westeros and became the first ruler of the Seven Kingdoms,
10:33did so because he wanted to.
10:35Forgive me, Khaleesi, but your ancestor Aegon the Conqueror
10:38didn't seize six of the kingdoms because they were his right.
10:41He had no right to them.
10:42He seized them because he could.
10:44And because he had dragons.
10:46Having a few dragons makes things easier.
10:48Yeah, that tracks.
10:50However, while that's what Westerosi history tells us,
10:53House of the Dragon provides a different answer.
10:55Our histories, they tell us that Aegon looked across the Blackwater from Dragonstone,
11:00saw a rich land ripe for the capture.
11:04But ambition alone is not what drove him to conquest.
11:08It was a dream.
11:09Aegon had a vision of the White Walkers and their long night.
11:12It made him believe that Targaryens and their dragons
11:15needed to be in power when the time came.
11:17He passed the prophecy down to his heir,
11:20a tradition that is still in place during House of the Dragon.
11:23This secret, it's been passed from king to heir since Aegon's time.
11:30Now you must promise to carry it and protect it.
11:37Welcome back, Princess.
11:38I trust your ride was pleasant.
11:40Try not to look too relieved, sir.
11:42We'd like to go ahead and issue an extra spoiler warning for this one.
11:45Rhaenyra Targaryen and her family's civil war
11:48are mentioned a couple of times in Game of Thrones.
11:50In a spoiler-filled scene in season three,
11:53Joffrey gives Margaery a history lesson on the family
11:56and discusses Rhaenyra's fate.
11:58Would you like to see where the last Targaryens are buried?
12:00Are you sure Lady Margaery doesn't find all this a bit macabre?
12:03Oh no, it's quite all right, Your Grace.
12:05I'd love to see their tombs, really.
12:07The Dance of the Dragons is mentioned again in season five by Shireen Baratheon.
12:12It's the story of the fight between Rhaenyra Targaryen
12:15and her half-brother Aegon for control of the Seven Kingdoms.
12:18Both of them thought they belonged on the Iron Throne.
12:21When people started declaring for one of them or the other,
12:24their fight divided the kingdoms in two.
12:26However, we never got any information on the character herself
12:29or why she felt entitled to a throne that was traditionally held by men.
12:33House of the Dragon finally gives insight into their actions,
12:37showing that she had every right to the royal seat.
12:40Princess Rhaenyra.
12:42I'm Queen Rhaenyra now.
12:45And you all are traitors to the realm.
12:51But ambition alone is not what drove him to conquest.
12:55It was a dream.
12:57In A Game of Thrones,
12:58Daenerys has a series of visions in the House of the Undying.
13:02While magic is involved,
13:04Daenerys isn't the only Targaryen to have experienced powerful visions.
13:08The Targaryens were known for dragon dreams that prophesied future events.
13:12Daenys Targaryen foresaw the Doom of Valyria,
13:15prompting the Targaryens to leave Essos for Dragonstone.
13:18Aegon I decided to conquer Westeros after dreaming the Song of Ice and Fire,
13:23in which the White Walkers returned.
13:25Viserys I foresaw his son being crowned as swords clashed and dragons roared,
13:30although this did not come to fruition in the way he thought.
13:34His daughter Helene also possesses the Gift of Prophecy.
13:37And Viserys's brother Daemon has visions at Harrenhal of both events past and future.
13:42But then Daemon has always dreamed big.
13:51Number 6
13:52How many dragons did the Targaryens have at their height?
13:56And we thought three was plenty.
14:07Prior to the Dance of Dragons,
14:09it's said the Targaryens were at the height of their power,
14:12with the largest number of dragons Westeros had ever seen.
14:16For anyone curious as to how many dragons that was exactly,
14:19Daemon spells it out in the Season 1 finale.
14:22We have Syrax, Caraxes, and Maelys.
14:25Your sons have Viermax, Arrax, and Tyraxes.
14:28Baelor has Moondancer.
14:29Daemon, none of our dragons have been to war.
14:31There are also unclaimed dragons.
14:33The Blacks hold 13, including some who are riderless,
14:37while the Greens only hold four.
14:39Unfortunately, these numbers have already begun to decrease.
14:43Arrax perishes at the end of the episode along with Lucerys
14:46when Vhagar chomps them out of the sky.
14:55Daemon also says they have 20 eggs incubating on Dragonstone,
14:59though it's anyone's guess as to when and if those will hatch.
15:03Half of them never do, you know.
15:05What?
15:09Hatch.
15:13Although the Doom and Aegon's Conquest are spoken of in Game of Thrones,
15:17there's a period in between that isn't.
15:20Fire and blood.
15:22The Targaryens didn't simply go from fleeing the destruction of their home
15:25to conquering Westeros.
15:27Following the fall of Valyria,
15:28there was a period of strife in Essos known as the Century of Blood.
15:32It concerned the conflicts of Valyria's former colonies,
15:35which would become the continent's free cities as seen in Game of Thrones.
15:39I've heard Meereen has become a free city.
15:41You might run into trouble if you try to fight slaves in the fighting pits.
15:44Now if you were to fight freed men who would be paid a wage...
15:48As House of the Dragon tells us,
15:50Volantis attempted to become the ruling city.
15:53Before he'd earned the title of Conqueror,
15:55Aegon flew Belerion the Black Dread to Essos to turn the tides against the Volantene.
16:00A toast to Aegon the Conqueror, your exalted forebear,
16:04who joined our cause against Volantis in the Century of Blood.
16:08On the great dragon Belerion, he flew to our aid in Lys
16:11and burned a fleet of enemy ships, thus turning the tide.
16:15Number 4.
16:16How much control did the Targaryens have over dragons?
16:24In Game of Thrones,
16:25Drogon is shown to be a bit temperamental before Dany becomes his rider.
16:29Afterwards, the two act as one,
16:32perpetuating the belief that Targaryens were masters over the beasts.
16:36House of the Dragon, however, calls that into question.
16:50Viserys believes their sway over the dragons to only be an illusion.
16:54He's proven right in the finale,
16:56when neither Lucerys nor Aemond can gain control over their mounts.
17:09This could vary from rider to rider.
17:12Dragons often sense what their rider is feeling.
17:14For example, Daemon seems to have an incredibly strong connection with Caraxes,
17:19but saying the Targaryens could outright control them simply isn't true.
17:26Number 3.
17:28Where did the dagger come from?
17:29All Valyrian steel weapons are rare,
17:32but one in particular ended up playing a much bigger role than anyone could have guessed.
17:46First used in an assassination attempt on Bran Stark's wife,
17:50this dagger would go on to be used by his sister Arya to vanquish the Night King.
17:56Due to its role, and to it not being linked to any particular family,
18:08we wondered about the history of this dagger.
18:10That dagger once belonged to Aegon the Conqueror.
18:15It was Aenar's before that.
18:18And before that, well it is difficult to know.
18:22It originally belonged to Aenar Targaryen,
18:25the dragon lord who fled Valyria with his family.
18:28More importantly, it passed to Aegon,
18:30who had it inscripted with his prophecy that would only show up in fire.
18:34In addition to the prophecy,
18:36the Targaryens passed the dagger down from heir to heir.
18:51Number 2.
18:52What started the Targaryen Civil War?
18:55As we all know, the Targaryen Civil War, or Dance of Dragons,
19:09was a war of succession between Rhaenyra and her younger half-brother Aegon II.
19:14Knowing it was a war of succession meant that King Viserys
19:17wouldn't be making it out of the first season alive.
19:20But things weren't that simple.
19:25In House of the Dragon, Rhaenyra is all set to inherit the throne
19:35until the misunderstanding between Viserys and Alicent.
19:38Even when the greens lead a coup and crown Aegon,
19:41Rhaenyra wants to avoid war and bloodshed at all costs.
19:56Unfortunately, the death of her son Lucerys at the hands, or Dragon, of Aemond
20:01seems like the catalyst for a lot more people dying.
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20:20Number 1.
20:22How did the prophecy survive?
20:24The prophecy of the prince that was promised was a major factor in Game of Thrones.
20:29First told to us by Melisandre,
20:31it told of a mythical warrior born to stop an impending threat to the living world.
20:36However, we now know that this prophecy was not just something born from Melisandre's religion.
20:42Aegon had a similar vision and knew that the prince or princess
20:47would be the one to decide who the king of the realm would be.
20:51He was also aware of the long and long road that the world was going to go through
20:55and the risk of losing his throne.
20:58The prophecy of the prince that was promised was an example of the fact
21:02that a king or queen would have to play a part in the fate of the kingdom.
21:06Egon had a similar vision, and knew that the prince, or princess, would be born from his
21:13line.
21:14The prophecy survived by word of mouth.
21:17While the Targaryens passed it down from heir to heir, the red priests and priestesses preached
21:21of it in Essos.
21:30While we don't know how long it's been part of Melisandre's religion, Egon's own dream
21:34lends it more weight.
21:44What questions are you still waiting on answers for?
21:47Tell us in the comments.
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