Quick Links
The Targaryen colonization of Westeros rested on the declaration of racial superiority and a messiah complex. No sooner had House of the Dragon's King Viserys I Targaryen learned about Daemon and Rhaenyra's night tryst than he attributed their attraction to sharing the blood of the dragon. Similar assertions about being dragon-blooded were made by Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones.
Daenerys' brother, Viserys the beggar king, liked to call himself the dragon. When Ser Barristan Selmy referred to Rhaegar Targaryen as the last dragon in Game of Thrones, Daenerys corrected him and insinuated that she was the last dragon. The mythical bond between dragons and Valyrians is sometimes linked to bloodmagic, but does that mean there is such a thing as the Targaryens having the blood of the dragon?
George R.R. Martin's Major Hints About House Of The Dragon Season 2
Here is what Fire & Blood author George R.R. Martin says about HBO's House of the Dragon season 2 ahead of its release.
The Enigmatic Targaryens Of Old Valyria
The Targaryens of Westeros trace their descent to Aenar, the dragonlord of the Valyrian Freehold, who imposed a self-exile upon his House after heeding his daughter's prophecy of the Doom. Aenar relocated his family, household, and slaves to Dragonstone twelve years before the Doom of Valyria. He also brought five dragons with him. A chain of volcanic eruptions, known in Game of Thrones lore as the Fourteen Fires, did destroy the Valyrian Freehold, but Aenar and his family prospered on the island of Dragonstone, located at the entrance of Blackwater Bay. In House of the Dragon, Viserys I, who has had stonemasons carve a model of Old Valyria, pays an ode to his ancestors' rich legacy, saying:
The Valyrian capital was built into a volcano, much like Dragonstone. And the dragonlords, the highest of the nobility, lived here, at the volcanic face, closest to the source of their magic and power. And this was the Anogrion. Where the bloodmages worked their craft.
A deeper analysis of Viserys' words from House of the Dragon conveys that magic provided the Valyrian nobles with a sense of identity, and thus, was closely linked to their power. Bloodmages were people who practiced bloodmagic in the Freehold, and even though the catastrophe erased all the Valyrian records, secrets, magic, and knowledge, the Targaryens and their dragons thrived on Dragonstone.
The Valyrians' practice of sorcery is one of the possible causes of the cataclysm, collapse, and erasure. While their knowledge and crafts were lost, the Targaryens who lived in Westeros carried out a few Valyrian practices. The Conqueror wed his sister-wives in the tradition of House Targaryen, as it was common among Valyrian dragonlords to wed brothers to sisters to keep the bloodlines pure and to allow them to control their dragons. More examples include Rhaenyra and Daemon's Valyrian wedding in House of the Dragon, Aegon II's taking his sister, Helaena, as a wife, the taming of dragons, and the use of the Valyrian language.
The Targaryen God Complex
During the Conquest, the Westerosi commoners had never seen anything like the Targaryens or their dragons. Members of the House stood out by the silver of their hair, and the blue/purple of their eyes. Their identity was chiefly built around facets such as dragon dreams, belief in prophecies, and visions. The fact that the fourth Targaryen king, Jaehaerys I, was able to secure the Doctrine of Exceptionalism with the Faith of the Seven to formalize Targaryen wedding practices, is all referent of the Targaryens being superior over the Great and Noble Houses of Westeros.
Viserys in Game of Thrones still believed in the Targaryens' infallibility, and Daenerys liked to think of herself as more of a messiah than a monarch. The latter did have superior personal abilities in Game of Thrones, in that, she was completely immune to fire. She hatched three dragon eggs by sacrificing Mirri Maz Duur in the bloodmagic ritual. Eventually, she raised, trained, and gained full control over her three children without any help from the dragonkeepers seen in House of the Dragon. This says a lot about the so-called sole Targaryen in the world of HBO's Game of Thrones. Later, Jon Snow bonded with Rhaegal because he had Targaryen blood in him. In House of the Dragon, Rhaenyra claimed that:
Everyone says Targaryens are closer to gods than to men, but they say that because of our dragons. Without them, we're just like everyone else.
And her uncle-husband, Daemon maintained:
Dreams didn't make us kings... dragons did.
So, Do Targaryens Have The Blood Of The Dragon?
The Targaryens are strikingly beautiful, but other than that, they are just as ordinary as the rest. Viserys I was eventually consumed by "rot," and many Targaryens succumbed to madness due to their incestuous marriage practices. If the Targaryens were infallible, the Tragedy at Summerhall that wiped most of their House, including King Aegon V, in trying to hatch dragon eggs, would never have occurred.
House of the Dragon is available to stream on Max
In both the HBO shows, being dragon-blooded and "restless" and "chaotic" are figures of speech, and meant to serve as a callback to the ancient strength of the House. Game of Thrones canon has been ambiguous about what Daenerys meant when she said she was the blood of the dragon, and so has House of the Dragon about Viserys' words. It's highly likely that Viserys only referred to Daemon and Rhaenyra's temperaments. Besides dragons, the Targaryens ensured their expansion through political marriages, as, in the case of Dorne. They married into Westerosi Houses, made allies with them but kept their Valyrian traditions alive, and adopted Westeros' as well.
House of the Dragon
House of the Dragon is HBO's prequel series to Game of Thrones. Set hundreds of years earlier, the show follows the inner machinations and rivalries of the Targaryen royal family. The show was created by Ryan Condal and George R.R. Martin, and stars Matt Smith, Emma D'Arcy, Rhys Ifans, and Olivia Cooke.
- Release Date
- August 21, 2022
- Cast
- Matt Smith , Emma D'Arcy , Olivia Cooke , Rhys Ifans
- Creator
- Ryan J. CondalGeorge, R.R. Martin
- Network
- HBO Max
