Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) is plagued with prophetic visions in “House of the Dragon” season two, but the showrunner said the character’s dream in the last episode doesn’t change the ending to “Game of Thrones.“
In the finale, Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) takes Daemon to the weirwood tree in Harrenhal, where he has his final dream of the season. During the vision, he sees Brynden Rivers and a three-eyed raven — which is a nod to Bran Stark’s (Isaac Hempstead Wright) journey in “Game of Thrones.”
He also sees the terrifying White Walkers marching through the north, which sets up the end of the series when some of Westeros’ combined armies save the country from the undead horde.
The dream then shifts to three dragon eggs surrounded by fire, and we see a young woman with white hair sitting naked with her back to the camera as three baby dragons cling to her arms and legs.
Eagle-eyed fans will recognize that this is a recreation of the ending to “Game of Thrones” season one, in which Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) survives walking through a giant fire and hatches her dragon eggs.
The dream forces Daemon to put aside his bitterness that Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) is the heir to the throne. It also seemed to address “The Prince That Was Promised” prophecy, which is about a mythical hero who would save the world from a terrible darkness.
But showrunner Ryan Condal said the dream doesn’t confirm anything about Daenerys or the prophecy.
The “House of the Dragon” showrunner said the dream doesn’t give answers about the prophecy
HBO
At a press conference on Monday, showrunner Ryan Condal said the dream was about showing Daemon the future, instead of providing answers about the prophecy.
He explained that Daemon is not aware of who Daenerys is, Collider reported.
“The connectiveness between this family and the family to come, and Daemon seeing something that — 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,” he said.
He added: “And I think you know Daemon, in his own way, we know Rhaenyra is already kind of running with this idea of the prince that was promised.
“If Daemon also believes that that is Rhaenyra, as we’ve seen him say to her in High Valyrian in episode eight, there’s a very interesting thing that can be done with his interpretation of that reality as we move forward. So, for that reason, I think it was important that it was Daenerys, the image.”
Condal then confirmed that the episode wasn’t trying to provide answers to the prophecy from “Game of Thrones.”
“We are not trying to make any kind of specific interpretation of a prophecy that has yet to be revealed by its author. And that is George’s world and George’s space to tell that story. I think we’re, we’re more interested in playing with the character drama that lives in and around that imagery,” he said.
Condal’s denial of the prophecy is confusing because of how Daemon’s dream plays out
HBO
The prophecy of The Prince That Was Promised says that a legendary hero will save the world from a growing darkness — the White Walkers. As detailed in “Game of Thrones,” the Prince’s birth would be signaled by “a bleeding star.”
In Daemon’s dream, he sees a burning meteorite in the sky, before it cuts to the shot of Daenerys and her dragons. Visually, it looks as if the show is implying that Daenerys is the Prince That Was Promised, which makes Condal’s denial confusing.
Considering his comments referenced “Game of Thrones” author George R. R. Martin, it seems like he doesn’t want to make huge changes to the franchise and potentially stand in the way of the author’s next two books.
The end of the “Game of Thrones” TV series suggests that both Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) are also potential candidates as the Prince That Was Promised because they helped defeat the Night King and the White Walkers in the final season.
The “Game of Thrones” ending also divided fans by turning Daenerys into the Mad Queen following the deaths of some of her closest friends. She then razes King’s Landing with her dragon, Drogon, killing thousands of innocent civilians in the process.
Many were disappointed by this sudden turn because “Game of Thrones” spent so long building Daenerys’ story so that she could rightfully retake the Iron Throne.
But the hype around “House of the Dragon” has helped revive the franchise, as the season two finale was watched by nearly nine million viewers, Variety reported.
