Warning: spoilers ahead for the House of the Dragon season 2 finale.
It’s impossible to overstate just how devastated Game of Thrones fans were with the finale of the show when it aired in 2019.
While viewers still aren’t over their dire disappointment five years later, revelations made in the House of the Dragon season 2 finale have rubbed even more salt into the wound.
Game of Thrones spent years building up the mystery of who would finally end up on the Iron Throne, with many predicting that Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) would reign victorious over her enemies.
However, in the finale, the beloved Mother of Dragons bafflingly descended into madness, burning hordes of innocent people alive in King’s Landing despite her reputation as a saviour and ‘breaker of chains’.
Her lover and nephew Jon Snow (Kit Harington) subsequently stabbed and killed her to prevent her from committing any more atrocities, before Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright) was eventually chosen to rule as the King, which many deemed utterly nonsensical.
One of the reasons why fans felt so disheartened about the finale was because George RR Martin, the author of the A Song of Ice and Fire book series, hadn’t finished writing the story yet… meaning that the show’s creators had to come up with their own ending.
It also felt very rushed, given the final season consisted of only six episodes, one fewer than the penultimate season, and four fewer than the rest.
In Game of Thrones, fans learnt about a prophecy centred around the ‘Prince that was Promised’, who was believed would deliver the world from darkness.
While some speculated that Jon was the Prince that was Promised, given he turned out to be a Targaryen, it was also suspected that the prophecy was about Daenerys, as it included a word translated from High Valyrian that could mean either ‘Prince’ or ‘Princess’.
The prophecy was left heartbreakingly unresolved in Game of Thrones, given Daenerys’ shock death and Jon joining the Wildlings to go beyond the Wall in the North.
But in the House of the Dragon season two finale, Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) has a vision about the prophecy, and sees a glimpse of his future descendant Daenerys with her three baby dragons.
After years of guessing, many fans believe that this moment appears to have confirmed – finally – that Daenerys was intended to fulfil the prophecy as the Princess that was Promised… although this still remains just a theory.
With that possibility, we’ve been transported back five years, reliving the crushing devastation of Dany’s fate like it was only yesterday… and the Game of Thrones finale feels even more shattering than it was before.
Following the release of the finale and the mass fan debate about the vision’s meaning, House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal addressed the speculation that the vision might have confirmed Daenerys as the Princess that was Promised, providing an intriguing answer.
During a press conference attended by Metro.co.uk, the show’s co-creator explained that they needed to forge ‘interconnectivity’ between House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones, deciding to use the timeline of the Targaryen dynasty to do so.
‘We don’t know how exactly the events play out in its history, but we do know at the end of it, there are no dragons left in the world until they’re reborn to Daenerys in the end,’ he said.
‘I think that is the interconnectivity. I will just say on a larger sort of literary storytelling level, the thing that we are very interested in as storytellers is the idea of how prophecy and these ideas of these messianic ideals that we always see interpreted in stories like this, in Harry Potter, in Star Wars, The Chosen One, The One, the one who’s going to save us from every everything, the Lightbringer, the Prince who was Promised, Azor Ahai.
‘How those ideas are interpreted in George’s world, which is, as we know from all of the storytelling that he has taken us through to date, that these things are very rarely black and white, and one thing or the other, and often can be cautionary tales for how ideas like this are interpreted by people in power.’
When asked if he ever considered putting Jon in Daemon’s vision, given the suspicion among fans that he might have been the Prince that was Promised, Ryan continued: ‘It’s just a more complex idea. I think the connectivity for us is specifically in and around the dragons.
‘We know that in this world we have 17 dragons, whatever the exact number is at this point and in the world where we first meet Daenerys and she’s staring across the Narrow Sea at her lost empire, there are zero dragons.
‘So again, the connectedness between this family and the family to come and Daemon seeing something – we know who that is watching that image. 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.’
The screenwriter concluded by saying how ‘important’ he felt it was for Daenerys to appear in the vision, even if they supposedly weren’t alluding to a prophecy’s meaning ‘that has yet to be revealed by its author’.
‘That is George’s world and George’s space to tell that story. We’re more interested in playing with the character drama that lives in and around that imagery,’ he stressed.
Whether the image of Daenerys in the vision will eventually mean that she is the Princess that was Promised, or if it was solely a symbolic moment to represent the rebirth of dragons after the fall of House Targaryen, it still is a stark reminder of the devastating blow that the Game of Thrones finale delivered.
Having spent eight years building up her forces, proving herself to be a formidable leader, preaching for justice… Dany ordered her dragon to breathe fire over civilians in King’s Landing, before being killed by her lover.
Many felt – and still feel – that this was an unjust ending for such an iconic character.
When the HBO show ended, there were some very hopeful theories that Dany could be resurrected.
After Jon killed her, her dragon Drogon picked up his mother’s dead body and flew away with her, sparking suspicions that she could be taken to a red priestess across the sea who could bring her back to life.
When the Jon Snow spin-off was still in the works before being shelved for the time being, this remained a (very slim) possibility, if Emilia was willing to reprise her role with Kit.
Let’s face it – this theory might have been too optimistic for its own good.
When George RR Martin finally finishes the A Song of Ice and Fire book series, readers will discover who he intended to sit on the Iron Throne at the end.
If his intended ending is drastically different to Game of Thrones season eight (which it most likely will be), perhaps the cast could reprise their roles for a do-over?
Oh you sweet summer child (we say to ourselves). Time to get a grip on reality.
This piece has been updated to include comments from showrunner Ryan Condal.
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House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones are available to watch on Sky Atlantic and NOW.
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